GUILT
by RunawayToaster
Summary: the 11th doctor turns up at torchwood infected with a killer toxin and with a crashed TARDIS. will the team find a cure for the mystery toxin known only as GUILT in time to save the Doctor?
1. Chapter 1

The Torchwood hub was quiet. Jack sat in his office, absent-mindedly going through paperwork, Tosh sat at her computer, typing away, Gwen sat next to her, chatting about 'rift noise', which Tosh's new equipment had picked up, Owen sat on the sofa, reading the newspaper and eating pizza. Jack suspected Ianto was in the kitchen, making coffees. Jack sighed and added a piece of work to the growing pile and yawned.

Suddenly, an almighty crash shook the hub. Jack leaped out of the office and surveyed the hub, fearing the worst. He frowned when he saw it intact. The team were crowded around Tosh's monitor. Jack raced down and joined them, and gasped when he saw what was on the monitor. Tosh had switched it to the CCTV footage of the bay above. On the concrete, there lay a splintered mess of a wooden box. The TARDIS.

Jack yelled and sprinted towards the exit, but before he got there, a dull crack sounded behind him. He turned to see a man, burnt and bleeding standing wobbly by the stairs to the medical area. He looked straight at Jack with confused, dark eyes.

"Jack" he half whispered, before going limp and tumbling backwards down the stairs. Jack rushed forward and knelt by him, cradling his head in his hands and stroking his hair.

"Oh Doctor, what happened? What happened to you?"

"Jack" The Doctor opened his eyes and whispered. "Jack…help me."

Jack gulped back a lump in his throat. "What happened?"

"I…" The Doctor trailed off, his body going limp again.

Owen knelt next to Jack, and had started checking for broken bones. He got some sterile wipes and bandages, and began cleaning and dressing the various cuts.

Jack felt across the Doctor's chest, and gasped. He only had one heartbeat.

"Owen!" He almost shouted. "He only has one heartbeat!"

Owen looked up. "Isn't he supposed to?"

"No! He's a timelord! He has two hearts!" Jack stroked across where the second heartbeat should be. "He needs CPR on his left side, now!"

Owen moved across, and began pumping at The Doctor's chest, counting each time.

Several slow minutes passed, until the doctor gave a huge gasp. He looked up at Jack with frightened, dark eyes. He shifted, and winced.

"Jack" he smiled.

"That all you're gonna say?" Jack stroked his hair back.

"Hello" The Doctor smiled again. He tried to sit up, but fell back, wincing in pain.

"I've got you" Jack supported The Doctor and lifted him into his arms.

"Jack, the TARDIS-" he broke off and went limp in Jack's arms.

"Doctor!" Jack rushed towards the sofa, and gently lay him down there. "Oh, Doctor. What happened to you?" he covered him up with a blanket and sat on the floor next to the sofa.


	2. Chapter 2

The Evening came, and The Doctor had only woken twice, both times he briefly whispered "Jack" and "The TARDIS is broken", along with small groans of pain. Owen administered strong pain relief every six hours, and had moved him into the medical area, so that he could be monitored more easily. Jack never left his side.

He stared at The Doctor, still lying unconscious and broken on the medical bench. Owen had hooked up an IV line with a fluid drip, and an oxygen tube through his nasal passages to help him breath, and then left Jack alone. He thought about the TARDIS, still splintered and smashed all over the bay above. That would have to be cleared up, but he hated the thought of doing it without The Doctor.

"Jack" The Doctor's voice jolted him awake from his thoughts

"Doctor" he replied, and stroked back his messy, new hair. He liked it. It wasn't as unruly and dark as the old Doctor's, but he could get used to it. The Doctor looked at his hand for a few seconds, a look of confusion crossing his face before he tried to pull the cannula out.

"No, no no no, that has to stay there, it's helping you"

The Doctor looked back up at Jack, and pointed to the oxygen tube. "This too?"

Jack nodded, gulping back yet another lump in his throat.

"Oh" he put a hand on Jack's and squeezed it. "Sorry" Suddenly, he sat bolt upright. "The TARDIS!" he shrieked, and tried to get off the bed, throwing off the blanket covering him and pulling out the IV line as he did so. Jack gripped him by the shoulders, and gently laid him back down, covering him with the blanket.

"The TARDIS is fine" he lied. That hurt him a lot, but it was for The Doctor's own good. "You, in the other hand, are not. Lie back down…there you go"

The Doctor sat up again, but reluctantly lay back down. "Jack, it hurts" he sighed. "I feel…so…strange. It hurts" his words were becoming slurred as unconsciousness started to pull him down again. "I'm scared" he barely whispered, before his breathing slowed and The Doctor was gone again.

Jack sighed, his breath wavering towards the end, until a huge sob erupted from his chest.

Ianto heard, and came running down the steps, fearing the worst. His eyes fell on The Doctor first, and then on Jack, who had laid his head on the edge of the bench, and whose shoulders were heaving in silent sobs.

"Jack…?" Ianto wasn't sure whether The Doctor was alive, but was reassured when the Timelord exhaled loudly. "Do you need anything? The others have gone home, I hope you don't mind. Owen has stayed, to help with The Doctor."

Jack looked up. The least thing he cared about now was the team's working hours. The Doctor needed him now more than ever before. "Ianto, coffee please. And a blanket and can you get Owen to come down here and fix this?" He held up the IV line, which was leaking fluid sluggishly onto the floor.

Ianto nodded, and made his way to the kitchen, telling Owen to go and sort the doctor out on the way. He didn't mind Jack's harsh command like reply; he was upset, and worried about The Doctor. He wondered how that man, lying unconscious on the bed could be the same timelord he'd met a few times before. He looked different aswell. New hair, new looks. He remembered The Doctor explaining something called 'regeneration' to him, something about cheating death and atoms changing. To be honest, most of it had gone straight over his head. He carried the coffee and blanket to Jack, and handed them over.

Jack took them and forced a smile. "You're a star; you can go home if you want"

Ianto sighed. He was tired, but he didn't want to leave Jack alone.

"No, I'll stay for a while. There's some paperwork that needs filing and the hub's a tip!"

Jack couldn't help but chuckle. Ianto was truly a clean freak, even with the high tension in the hub. "Ok, but you're off duty now, so you can leave when you're done here." Ianto nodded and left Jack in peace.

Jack sighed and stroked The Doctor's hand. It felt cold and clammy, and that unnerved him. The Doctor never got ill, it wasn't right.

Owen came down and frowned at the leaking IV. "He pulled it out" Jack apologised. Owen nodded.

"It's okay. He's due for some more painkillers aswell, so I'll do that at the same time." He carefully inserted a new cannula into The Doctor's hand, and reconnected the IV. After that he fetched a clean syringe, filled it with strong painkillers, and gently injected it into The Doctor's arm. "There you go" he put the syringe in the medical waste bin and sighed. "That'll do him until morning. I'm staying overnight by the way, so if you need me I'll be on the sofa"

Jack looked up, "Thank you, you don't know how much he means to me" he looked at The Doctor, and fought back another surge of sobs. Owen just nodded and went back up to the main hub.

Jack woke up. He'd made a makeshift bed on the floor of the hub so that he could stay near The Doctor. He yawned and checked the time. 6:00 Am. The team would be in soon. Suddenly, a scream erupted from The Doctor. Jack was up in an instant and by his side.

"Doctor? Doctor! What is it? What's wrong?" he put a hand on the timelord's head to try and soothe him, and felt the skin burning.

"Jack!" The Doctor gasped. "Jack, the pain!" tears were streaming from his eyes as he moaned in pain.

Owen came thudding down the steps and stood on the other side, trying to cool him down.

"Jack!" The Doctor cried, gripping his hand and squeezing it as waves of pain washed over him.

"Shhhh, the pain relief's coming, be brave. There you go, its coming" he looked up at Owen and nodded "give it to him"

Owen frowned. "But, he's already had-"

"Just give it to him!" Jack shouted. The Doctor moaned again, and squeezed Jack's hand even harder.

"Jack!" The Doctor moaned. "Stop shouting"

"Sorry" Jack looked back up at Owen. "He's a timelord. He can take a stronger dose. Do it, that's an order!"

"Jack!" The Doctor's voice was rising to a scream. Owen acted quickly, and injected him with a strong dose of painkillers.

"Its okay, Doctor. Here come the painkillers. Can you feel it?"

The Doctor nodded, and his moans became less and less. He coughed, and a spatter of blood stained his mouth. Jack's eyes widened. "Is that…blood?" he whispered, not daring to say it out loud. Owen had noticed it too, and was getting a syringe out, ready to do a blood test. Quickly, he extracted some of the timelord's blood and ran it over to test it. With the technology they had, it was available instantly. Jack looked down at The Doctor, who had fallen back into unconsciousness and planted a kiss on his forehead before joining Owen at the computer. He already had the results and was frowning at them. Jack could see an unusually high amount of white blood cells, aswell as copper and zinc. And there was something else aswell. Something was moving inside the vile.


	3. Chapter 3

Gwen was first to arrive at the hub. She quietly came down the steps into the medical area, and put a hand on Jack's back. He immediately sat up, but smiled when he saw it was Gwen.

"Morning" he half yawned

"How's he been?" Gwen looked at The Doctor.

"He's been…ok. He woke up a couple of times."

Gwen nodded. "He'll be better soon, you'll see. He's The Doctor, remember."

Jack smiled. "Yeah" he sighed. "Is Ianto in yet?"

"I think so, do you want anything?"

"Yeah, a coffee. Extra industrial strength, please"

Gwen nodded and smiled reassuringly. "He'll be okay, you'll see" she left Jack alone with The Doctor again. Jack looked at his pale, unconscious face, and let the tears pour down his cheeks. He rested his head on The Doctor's chest, and sobbed against it.

After what seemed like forever to Jack, he sat up, lungs aching from so much sobbing and eyes swollen. Ianto came down the steps, carrying a large steaming mug of coffee. He set it down on one of the many counters round the medical area and embraced Jack in a warm hug.

"It'll be alright, you'll see" He ruffled the immortal's thick short black hair, something The Doctor often did. That made him cry even more. "Shhhh, we can fix him. This is Torchwood, remember."

Jack gulped back the tears and nodded. "I bloody hope so." Ianto broke the hug, and handed Jack the coffee. He dragged up a second stool and sat with him, both of them watching The Doctor, and waiting for him to return to consciousness.

When Tosh arrived at the hub, Jack immediately asked her to scan the vile of The Doctor's blood, which had been kept warm in a heated thermos cup. Jack and Owen stood behind and watched as the stats of came up on screen. An image came up in the centre of the screen, depicting an ugly, insect like creature. It had four claw like legs and a huge head with jaws like a stag beetle. Under it, a text read "unidentified living organism discovered" along with information about it.

"What…is that?" Jack said in a low, angry voice.

"It says guilt" said Tosh. "What does that mean?"

"I have no idea. Guilt? Has he done something he regrets? How could that cause him to be like," Ianto looked down at The Doctor, lying asleep on the medical bench. "That?" he finished.

"I don't know, I don't think it's physically guilt. But nothing's coming up on here."

"The TARDIS-" Jack stopped himself. He was about to say that the TARDIS would have more information backed up on it's infinite system, or have something relevant tucked away in a book in the vast library. But then he remembered that the TARDIS had crashed, and was smashed and splintered all over the bay. No use to him and no use for saving The Doctor. Jack gulped back a sob, and sighed. He had to be strong, for The Doctor's sake.

"The TARDIS what?" Ianto looked up, as if he was looking at the bay above.

"Doesn't matter. The TARDIS is dead now, it crashed, remember?"

"Actually," Tosh brought up the CCTV images of the bay. The TARDIS was no longer smashed, but it was sitting quietly by the water tower, as if it were waiting for The Doctor to stroll in and set off on another set of adventures. Jack frowned. "How…" he trailed off. He didn't care how the TARDIS had repaired itself, all that mattered was it had. Jack turned to Gwen, who was walking past, a stack of papers under her arm. "Gwen, I'm going up to the bay. If The Doctor wakes up, tell him where I am and that I'll be back soon"

Gwen nodded. "I'll sit with him until you come back, so he doesn't feel alone."

Jack smiled. "You're an absolute star, thank you" Gwen smiled and made her way down to the medical area.

Jack ran to the lift, Ianto following. Together they stood as the mechanisms brought them out of the hub and directly onto the bay. It was a bright morning, the sun shining defiantly in the shy. Jack ran over to the TARDIS, and pressed his hands against the blue wood. He sighed, and pulled the door open with its familiar creak. The inside had changed from the last time Jack had seen it. Gone were the metallic silver colour and the supports. They had been replaced by white on the walls, coloured by orange hues, which lit the whole ship. Staircases led off to other parts of the ship and surrounding the central column on the floor was a clear…glass? Floor, allowing them to look down into the main workings of the TARDIS. Under the main central column lay a dome, which contained the engine that ran The Doctor's great ship. The central control panel had a monitor above it, to which Jack ran to. "Wow…I guess it…regenerated, like The Doctor. Do they do that?" Ianto looked around the interior, eyes wide in wonder.

"I guess so" Jack had already got the monitor working, and was going through the various pages on the ship's infinite system. It was full of information on space diseases, history of various galaxies and planets, languages, species of aliens. Jack could go on forever. "Ianto, I'm going to the library, could you stay here and look through this? It works a bit like a computer. The knob here works it, like a mouse" Ianto nodded and Jack set off to the library.

Jack found some of the books he was looking for in surprisingly quick time. The TARDIS had rearranged the books into alphabetical order, during the regeneration Jack presumed. It made a change from The Doctor's usual mish-mash of books on any old shelf. He carried the books back to the main area of the TARDIS, and set them down on the floor. "Found anything useful yet?"

Ianto shook his head. "No, there's too much on here to go through it all!"

Jack sighed. "It's ok, we can look through these books, maybe they can shed some light on this, but I don't think we have much time. Whatever it is, it's killing The Doctor." His voice caught in his throat.

"We can stop this, Jack. We can help The Doctor, you'll see" Ianto hoisted two of the books into his arms and waited for Jack to follow.

Together, they made their way back into the hub. When the finally returned, Jack put the books he was carrying down on the nearest table, and ran to The Doctor, who had woken and was screaming for Jack.

"Doctor! Doctor it's me, Jack" He took The Doctor's hand. The Doctor's screams became whimpers. "Shhhh, there you go, it's me, and I'm here"

"Jack" The Doctor whimpered, "Jack, I missed you"

"We tried to tell him you were in the TARDIS, but he didn't understand. He thought you were gone." Gwen stroked The Doctor's other hand. "Poor soul"

"You silly sausage, I wouldn't leave you" Jack stroked back the timelord's hair, and felt his forehead was slick with sweat.

"It hurts"

"I know" Jack looked at the others. "Where's Owen?"

"Here" Owen stood at the top of the medical steps, looking tired. "Sorry I'm late"

Jack sighed. "Well, you're here now" He turned to The Doctor. "It's OK, Owen's here now."

"Owen?"

"Owen, Dr Owen."

"Doctor…I'm The Doctor" The Doctor smiled, but then winced and his face contorted in pain.

Jack sighed again. "Owen, painkillers, please" Owen nodded and immediately started setting up a dose. Gently, he injected The Doctor, who winced a little, then relaxed as they took effect. The Doctor yawned, and mumbled "Jack", before he drifted back into unconsciousness. Jack sighed and asked Ianto to get the books he had taken from the TARDIS. Ianto nodded and left the medical area. He returned a few minutes later and handed them to Jack. Jack nodded thanks, and then began flipping through the pages of one. Ianto picked up another, sat down on the floor and also started flipping through the pages.

After several quiet minutes, Jack shut the book and put it gently on the floor. Ianto looked up. "Nothing?"

"Nothing" Jack sighed. He looked at The Doctor. "What's wrong with you, Doctor? What's in your blood?"


	4. Chapter 4

The Doctor had woken twice more in the time Jack and Ianto had been reading. Each time, he was awake less and less. He looked up at Jack with those fearful, dark eyes he had seen when The Doctor first arrived at the hub, and half croaked "GUILT" it was the first time he had said it, and it took Jack by surprise.

"I know we're trying to help" Jack stroked The Doctor's cheek and a tear slid down his cheek. The Doctor frowned, then reached up and brushed the tear away, then smiled. That broke Jack's heart; The Doctor thought Jack was happy now, because he wasn't crying. He still had the cuts on his face, which still hadn't healed properly, which was another thing that worried Jack, because The Doctor was supposed to be able to heal almost instantly. It indicated that something was severely wrong.

The Doctor looked down at the book Jack had in his lap. "You got that from the TARDIS"

"I know, I'm sorry" Jack stroked the faded page he was on.

"It's the right book" he whispered, before he slid into unconsciousness once more.

Jack looked back to the book, and flipped through to the back, where there was a glossary. He searched through the millions of diseases, until, there it was, GUILT. He heaved the pages back to the 'G' section, and quickly found the page. The page had a picture of an ugly creature, the same as the one that had shown up on Tosh's screen, but only this time with more detail. "Ianto, I found it!" Jack heaved the heavy book into his arms, and ran up into the main hub. He called the others up to the briefing room, and set the book down on the table. The team stood around the book as Jack read out loud from the page.

"GUILT, also known as 'Gangliated Utrothropin Immuno Latency Toxin', is a bit of a misnomer, as it is a parasite that creates the toxin. It can easily be confused with its less ferocious cousin 'GILT', as it has very similar symptoms. Gangliated Immuno Latency Toxin can only be diagnosed through blood scanning, which would show up the parasite clearly. Though, at that stage it is often too late for the victim and they die soon after. Timelords, however, are known to have a slight immunity to the toxin. It is still deadly, but takes longer to have an effect and often it can simply provoke regeneration (see page 334). The GUILT parasite, once inside its victim can reproduce astonishingly quickly, and is capable of killing within days. It is deadly to humans. The toxin is so powerful it can cause internal lacerations and in worst cases, organ failure. It is not known how the toxin gets into hosts, or how the parasite produces the toxin, but it is related to the Vashta Nerada (see page 1124). GUILT is known to have wiped out entire species, but, caught in time can be cured by-" Jack looked up. "That's all it says. The rest of the page is missing. The other side is just pictures and symptoms." his voice caught in his throat. "We don't have the cure!" Jack raised his voice in anger. "Somebody doesn't want the doctor to survive! My bet is that this toxin has got in during his regeneration or soon after, as it is the only time The Doctor has a weak immune system. They knew he'd come to us, and we'd find this book, so they removed the information! Who would do that?"

"The Master?" Ianto hazarded a guess.

Jack turned to him, blue eyes ablaze with anger. "The Master is dead!" he cried, "he was shot, refused to regenerate, and…and he died in The Doctor's arms" he finished, his voice softer. He remembered The Doctor cradling The Master in his arms, begging him to regenerate. The Master laughing as the bullet wound slowly killed him, him begging for the drums to stop, him dying and The Doctor screaming.

"Jack!" Gwen's voice snapped him back to reality.

"We could try…I know this sounds ridiculous, but we could try antivenom" Owen leant on the table, eyes fixed on the book. "We have antivenom for almost every species we've met, for every secretion or bite. We could try some of those. Plus, we know it's definantly GUILT, look, that's the same as the one we saw in the doctor's blood. That one," he pointed to a picture on the opposite page, which showed a similar creature, but it was smaller, and had club like jaws, "is different, I'm guessing that's GILT"

Jack sighed; he knew there wasn't much time. It was worth a shot, it was worth it for The Doctor's life. He nodded.

"It's worth a try" he stood up and looked down towards the medical area, which he could just see from the briefing room. "It's worth everything" he muttered. Owen made his way down into the medical centre and immediately started setting up various antivenoms. Jack instructed Tosh to scan the page into her computer and start researching. "Find everything you can" he ordered. He turned to Ianto and Gwen. "Help her, look through the other books. Ianto, if you need to go up to the TARDIS and use the systems there. The library is up the first staircase to your right and it's the ninth door down the corridor. Don't touch anything on the central control, don't want you two disappearing off into another time period." Ianto nodded and rushed off to grab another book.

Jack ran down to the medical area, as Owen was injecting Nostrovite antivenom into The Doctor. He looked up.

"I'm trying everything!" he responded to the questioning look Jack gave him

"He's worth everything" Jack stroked back The Doctor's hair and kissed his forehead. "Let this help you" he murmured.

Two slow hours passed, and Owen had tried every antivenom in the hub bank. None had any affect on The Doctor. Jack sighed and stroked his cheek. "Come on, you can pull through, you're The Doctor! You have to!" a tear slid down his cheek, followed by several more. He sniffed and wiped his eyes. "Come on, Jack, pull yourself together!" he had to be brave, for The Doctor's sake.

"Jack!" Tosh called from her workstation. Jack looked down at The Doctor and kissed him, before running over to Tosh to see what she had found.

Tosh had details of the mayfly incident with a company called Pharm. "Why are you looking at this?" Jack asked, then realised he sounded harsh, Tosh was only trying to help after all.

"Look, the mayfly was a parasite similar to GUILT, it travelled in the blood then manifested itself as one big creature, remember?"

Jack nodded. He remembered Pharm all too well. Owen died that day, and Jack had brought him back using the resurrection glove, or 'the risen mitten' as Ianto called it. And they faced the consequences. Jack sighed; he didn't have time to be thinking about that now. The Doctor was dying, and they were the only people who could save him.


	5. Chapter 5

Jack sighed. He was sitting with The Doctor again, reading the page about GUILT over and over again. He frowned and looked at The Doctor, who seemed even more fragile. He imagined those things racing through his blood, destroying his body as the went. He wondered, what would happen if it was in him?

Owen came down the steps. He seemed deep in thought.

"Owen, I've been thinking. How deadly is this GUILT to humans?"

"No, you are not doing an experiment on yourself" Owen looked stern, and stood by the needles cupboard just in case.

"Come on, Owen. It's valuable research and, for all we know, could add towards saving The Doctor"

Owen sighed. "Jack, you're needed now. What if something really bad happens?"

"Owen, I'm immortal. Please, I am helping, this could be so useful"

Owen sighed again, heavily. "There's no persuading you otherwise, is there?"

Jack shook his head. "No" Owen shook his head and moved aside. Jack got out a needle and syringe used for blood testing and handed it to Owen. He rolled his eyes and took a sample from The Doctor. He turned and Jack could see the blood moving as the parasite inside it tried to break free. He shuddered and took it from Owen, who watched with apprehension and fear. Jack took off his blue coat and revealed the bare skin of his arm. Gently, he injected the crimson blood into his arm, discarded the syringe and waited.

After a few tense, slow minutes that felt like years to Jack, something started to happen. It started as a burning sensation, which quickly spread through his whole body. Jack doubled up in pain, it seared through his whole body and Jack let out a low wail. Then, suddenly, his legs collapsed from underneath him and Jack went crashing to the floor. Owen was by him in seconds, panic burning in his eyes.

"Owen….get…the…..others" Jack breathed between sickening waves of pain. As jack took in breaths, the world seemed to spin. As the team stood round him, worry and fear could be felt in the air. Jack's chest heaved and he coughed. A dribble of blood stained his chin. Jack coughed again and this time more blood. At that moment, The Doctor woke. He sat up and, when he saw Jack on the floor, gasping for breath, let out a low wail which escalated in pitch to a scream. He tried to get up, but wasn't weak enough and he tumbled to the floor with a dull thud. Jack tried to scramble over to him but just didn't have the strength. Owen picked The Doctor, who was still screaming up and set him on the medical bench, reassuring him that Jack was going to be fine. Jack's vision was clouding now, and he could barely breathe. He gave another huge cough and blood splattered on the floor. Jack gave one last Cough, and gasped for breath, and then fell silent.

"Oh….my….god!" Gwen knelt by Jack. "What in the name of Michael Buble was that?"

"GUILT" said Owen calmly. He finished sedating The Doctor, who had become hysterical at the sight of Jack dying like that. "He injected himself with infected blood, to see what would happen to him."

"It….lacerated his chest" Tosh held the scanner over Jack's chest. It showed Jack's lungs and heart, all totally ripped apart. "It just…ripped them apart!" she moved the scanner down, and revealed that GUILT had also ripped apart his stomach and guts. "Oh my god!"

"What is that?" Ianto pointed to the puddle of blood on the floor. In the centre, was a creature about the size of an egg. It lay on its back, claw like legs waving helplessly in the air.

Jack gasped loudly and sat up. "Oh my god! Never let me do anything like that again!" he stood up and looked at The Doctor. "That's happening to him" he gasped and took his hand. "We have to stop it" he noticed the creature on the floor. "What is that?"

"That was in you" Owen had scooped it into a kidney dish, where it scuttled about.

"Its GUILT" he frowned. "It's secreting toxin, look" Owen took a small vile, usually used for holding blood samples, and scooped some up. He put it on the side, ready to be tested.

After several minutes of scurrying, the GUILT creature stopped moving. "What do we do with it now?" Owen poked at it with a scalpel.

"We could try and make antivenom with the secretion" Tosh seemed wary of it, and kept looking at The Doctor, as if she expected another one to erupt out of him. Jack shuddered at the thought.

"That's a good idea" Jack smiled, he had to put on a brave face, for The Doctor at least.

"I can dissect this" Owen took the kidney dish and left it at the far end of the medical area. He came back and picked up the vile of GUILT toxin. "Antivenom, right" he opened up a round tin-like box and put the vile into one of the many slots. He closed it and switched it on. The machine made a low hum as it spun the vile round.

Jack sighed and held The Doctor's hand, praying for him to wake up, even if it was just for a few fleeting minutes. He so desperately wanted The Doctor to open his eyes, leap off the bed and start saving the universe again. He wanted it to stop, and stop now.

"Jack!" Ianto burst into the medical centre, breathless, carrying a book. "Look at this" Ianto set the book down on one of the counters and beckoned Jack over. "The information on the cure has been removed again, but here it says the virus can take up to two weeks to kill a timelord."

Jack took the book and scanned the page. Ianto was right, and the information had been highlighted. He sighed. The Doctor had been with them four days now. That left a week and three days at best. Jack's back stiffened. That wasn't enough time. That was nowhere near enough time. Antivenom took weeks to make, at the best of times, and finding the right cure could take twice as long. "Not enough time" he voiced his thoughts. "That's not enough time!" Jack cried. And threw the book across the hub. "The antivenom will take 3 weeks at best, and that might not even be the right cure! Then finding the right cure could take twice as long! That's time we don't have!" Jack gave a sob, and collapsed into Ianto's arms. "We're going to loose him!" he moaned. Ianto stroked the back of Jack's head, and rocked him back and forth.

A few minutes went by and, eventually, Jack stopped crying. He wiped his face with his sleeve and apologised. He looked at The Doctor, still lying unconscious. Dying.

"We can always… freeze him" Ianto suggested in a small voice. The prospect broke Jack's heart. But it seemed like the only way to buy time. The only way to save him.


	6. Chapter 6

That evening, the team were assembled in the medical area. The Doctor was awake, and lay in the freezer pod. He looked up at Jack with scared, confused eyes.

"Jack…why?"

Jack grasped The Doctor's hand. It felt hot and clammy. "It'll save you, Doctor. I know, it's breaking my heart"

"Broken?" The Doctor tried to reach up to touch Jack, but winced and put his arm back down. Jack stroked back his hair and gulped back a sob.

"You won't feel anything; it'll be like sleeping, but a bit colder." The words felt empty and hollow, it didn't seem real.

"Are we ready?" Owen held the syringe of anaesthetic, and stood next to the pod. Jack sighed and stroked The Doctor's face.

"Are you ready?" His voice shook.

The Doctor hesitantly nodded. "I'm scared"

"I know, I know Doctor. You won't feel a thing, I promise." He gripped The Doctor's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. He looked up at Owen and nodded. A heart monitor was connected to The Doctor, and was showing results on Tosh's computer, aswell as the one in the medical area. It showed a twin beat, one of which was slower. This was a sign the GUILT was affecting The Doctor's hearts. They didn't have time to loose.

Owen gently injected the sedative into The Doctor, who gave a small groan. The sedative worked quickly, slowing The Doctor's vital signs until the heart monitor showed two continuous flat lines. Jack gave a heavy sigh, and released The Doctor's now cold hand. "I love you" he murmured, and planted a kiss on his forehead.

Suddenly, The Doctor started to shake violently, his body arcing and convulsing rapidly. Jack gave out a yell and pulled The Doctor out of the pod. "TOSH!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, "What's happening to him!" he moaned, as he tried to calm the shaking.

"His vitals are at zero, but his brain is still active!" Tosh frowned at her computer screen.

"Stop it! Stop it stop it stop it!" Jack cradled the fitting Doctor in his arms and clasped his hand. "Owen! Make it stop!"

Owen was already on the case, mixing a stronger sedative with anti-fitting drugs. "I'm on it; he's a timelord, so probably needs a stronger dose" Owen seemed calm, but Jack could hear panic in his voice, which made him even more panicked. Gwen knelt by him, and helped support The Doctor, whilst Tosh monitored his vitals. Ianto just stood, watching. He felt numb; he didn't know what to do. Eventually, he assisted Owen. Quickly, Owen injected the stronger sedative into The Doctor.

Slowly, the fitting stopped and The Doctor lay still in Jack's arms. Jack gently lifted The Doctor into the freezer pod, tears streaming down his cheeks. Without a word he let Tosh set the cryogenics, turned and walked up into the hub. Ianto followed and looked about for the heartbroken immortal. He went straight to Jack's office and found him sobbing at his desk.

"Jack?" Ianto stepped apprehensively into Jack's office.

Jack looked up, eyes swollen and puffy from crying. "Ianto" his voice was husky from sobbing. He was in a state.

"Oh, Jack" Ianto embraced Jack in a warm hug. "It'll be okay, we have more time."

Jack sniffed. "I can't help but think of him being down there, alone and cold….and with Grey" Jack exploded into sobs again, and Ianto gently rocked him backwards and forwards, letting Jack cry it all out.

Several minutes later, Jack had stopped sobbing. He sat heavily in his chair, took a bottle of hypervodka from a desk draw and took a swig. Ianto left him and went to brew a strong coffee.

The hub was quiet for the next few days, and Jack was scarcely seen. He was either in his office, or more often than not, in the TARDIS. The team wasn't sure quite what to do. Tosh did a lot of research on GUILT, and Owen worked almost non stop on finding antivenom. Ianto checked on Jack often, he knew Jack would try and do something stupid if somebody didn't make sure he didn't. He knew that even if Jack did, it wouldn't be permanent, but he hated it when Jack's lifeless body hit the floor.

The evening came around, and Gwen and Tosh had left the Hub. Owen sat on the sofa, flipping through one of the many books Jack had borrowed from the TARDIS. Ianto made him a coffee and sat next to him. Jack came back into the hub, his arrival announced by the sirens and grinding cogs of the great door to the Torchwood HQ. He looked weary, and nodded at the two team members.

"Not gone home yet?" His words were slurred, and they both suspected he'd been drinking again.

"No, we're looking after you" Owen looked at him over the book. "Gwen and Tosh have gone home, they had nothing left to do…except talk about shoes"

Ianto snorted, but kept his cool. "You should get some rest" He ushered Jack towards the sofa. Owen rolled his eyes and moved off to his workstation. Ianto lay Jack down, and covered him with a blanket.

Jack didn't want to sleep, but he couldn't help it. The sofa felt comfy, and the blanket comforting. It still smelt of The Doctor. He looked up at Ianto's worried face, and felt himself sinking down into unconsciousness.

Ianto sat at Gwen's workstation, head resting on his folded arms, fast asleep. Owen was absorbed in researching space diseases, so neither of them noticed Jack slipping up to his office. A loud bang echoed through the hub, reverberating off the walls and provoking an anguished screech from Mafanwy. Ianto and Owen ran up to Jack's office. Jack lay on the floor, blood pooling from a bullet wound in his head. A gun lay a few inches from his hand. Ianto and Owen looked at eachother and moved the gun before cleaning Jack up and waiting for him to revive.

Jack revived a few moments later, and immediately looked for the gun. He spotted it and scrambled to his feet. Before either of them could stop him, Jack grabbed it and shot himself again. He crumpled to the floor, the gun falling with a hard clatter. Jack revived again but before he could get to the gun Owen and Ianto restrained him. He managed to shake them off and grabbed a knife that was on his desk. He looked directly at Owen with manic, desperate eyes and before Owen or Ianto could stop him, he drove it into his chest. He collapsed to the floor once again, blood pouring from his nose and mouth. He grimaced and pushed it in further, making sure it was right through the heart, Ianto realised. Jack made a gasping, gurgling noise before falling silent.

Working quickly, they removed the knife from his chest, lay him on the medical table and strapped him down. He revived as Owen was setting up a sedative and screamed. "LET ME!" he screamed desperately. "The pain is less when I'm like that" he pleaded with Ianto, his hands bunched into fists and tears streaming down his face. He let out a frustrated cry, as Owen injected the sedative. Jack's words grew softer and slurred as he tried to shout various expletives at the two, but, eventually, he fell silent.

Owen and Ianto looked at eachother. "What now?" Ianto looked at the unconscious Jack. "What do we do now?"


	7. Chapter 7

Jack woke up and momentarily forgot where he was. He tried to get up but was still strapped down. He rattled the fixtures angrily and let out a low moan. Then it all flooded back. The intense emotion coursing through him, and just wanting to be dead. Permanently. The gun in his hand, the shot of pain and darkness, the knife in his chest, Owen and Ianto's shocked worried faces. He turned his head and saw the freezer pod. "Doctor" he whispered, and a tear slid down his face. "What's happened to me?" he longed to be in The Doctor's arms, to be sharing anecdotes of the universe, to be travelling time, to be safe and happy.

"Jack" Owen jogged down the steps, followed by Ianto.

"Owen" Jack looked up at him, "I'm sorry"

"Why did you do it?" Ianto stepped into Jack's field of vision, hair messy and a coffee in his hand. "You sort of…went insane"

"I know" more tears welled up and spilled down his cheeks. "I can't, I couldn't take it.

I couldn't deal with it!" Jack sobbed and Ianto sort of hugged him. Jack sniffed and coughed. "I'm sorry"

"It's ok, we're here now" Ianto smoothed back Jack's thick black hair, the same thing Jack had done The Doctor on this very same bench. More tears spilled down his cheeks.

"Come on, stop crying…there we go" Ianto produced a tissue from his pocket and wiped Jack's face.

"Can I get up now?" Jack tried to raise his head.

Owen sighed. "You promise you won't go on an angsty suicide rampage again?"

Jack nodded. "No more suicide" he chuckled. "That's a sentence I never thought I'd say" Owen smiled and undid the straps holding the captain down. Jack groggily sat up and sighed. "I'm sorry"

"It's ok" Ianto hugged him and Jack hugged him back.

"What time is it?"

"Quarter past nine, in the evening" Ianto checked his watch.

"I've been asleep all day?"

"Yeah" Ianto broke the hug. "Want a coffee?"

Jack nodded. "Industrial strength. Have I missed anything important?"

Ianto paused. "Tosh made a major discovery during research. When Owen's finished checking you over, go and see her"

"Is she still in then?"

"Yeah, she's doing the Jack-sitting duties tonight" Jack rolled his eyes and waved Ianto off to get his coffee.

"You really gave us a scare, Jack. We thought at one point you were going to…shoot one of us" Owen finished checking Jack over. "it was quite scary to be honest"

Jack looked at the floor. "I'm really sorry. I just….I don't know." Owen nodded and patted Jack on the back.

"It's okay, just…don't do it again, okay?" Jack nodded.

"I'd better go see Tosh" Jack heaved himself off the medical bench and jogged up the steps and over to see Tosh.

Tosh gave Jack a sympathetic look and waved him over. "Are you okay, Jack? I mean…"

"No, if you're asking if I'm gonna go off on a suicide rampage again. And I'm okay"

Tosh nodded. "Ok, good. I did some much deeper research, and found some more information, though I'm not sure if it's valid."

Jack read the text on Tosh's monitor.

'GUILT, also known as 'Gangliated Utrothropin Immuno Latency Toxin', is a parasite that causes immense muscle and organ damage upon its host. Originally discovered on the planet of Raxacollicofallapatorius on a species pf plant known as Ragweed, it was soon genetically modified to be used in the culling of certain species. It has been known to have been used as a form of medical genocide. Once infected, a victim suffers excruciating pain and severe internal bleeding until, eventually; the parasite reaches the heart and brain. More often than not, a victim has it injected into them or, in most cases, slipped into food or drink, as the toxin is odour and tasteless. The parasite at first is so tiny it can only be seen with a microscope, and is often transferred inside the toxin it produces. Once inside the body, it begins to grow and reproduce' Jack couldn't read any more. Anger bubbled up in his chest.

"Someone did this deliberately" he growled. "Someone infected him deliberately!"

"We can trace it"

"We can't" Jack sat down on the floor, all his energy seemed to have disappeared, along with hope for The Doctor. "We don't have the technology to do that." Tears welled up in his eyes and he started to cry. Tosh helped him up and comforted him, hugging him as best she could.

"It's okay. Owen says the antivenom should be ready soon, and I'm doing all the research I can, and so are Gwen and Ianto. We can save The Doctor, we can" Jack sniffed and gulped back another bout of sobbing. He had to be strong, for The Doctor if anyone. He straightened up. At the same moment, Ianto came in, expertly balancing a tray of mugs. He handed Jack his coffee, and Tosh her tea and left a plate of biscuits on the side.

"I thought you might be hungry" he explained, and then wandered up to the sofa to do some more research. Jack took a biscuit and nibbled it. He hadn't eaten in days, and realised how hungry he was. He ate the biscuits ravenously and had soon polished off ten. He left the others for Tosh.

"Jack, look at this" Owen stood at the top of the medical stairs and waved him over. Jack put the plate back on Tosh's desk and walked across to Owen. He lead Jack over to one of his workbenches in a kidney dish was a thick, clear, yellow substance.

"What's that?" Jack went to poke it, but Owen stopped him.

"Don't, it's corrosive" he demonstrated by putting a wooden splint into it. The wood just dissolved. "See"

Jack frowned. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure. It's what came out of the centrifuge, you know, the antivenom. I separated off all the lumpy bits and this is the result" Owen looked at it dismally. "I don't know what to do with it really; I don't think it'll work"

"What are you going to do with it?" Jack put the wooden splint in and watched as the end of it burnt away.

"We could add The Doctor's blood to it, and see what happens" Owen opened the heated flask and took out a small vile of The Doctor's blood. It was practically moving with GUILT. The sight of it made Jack feel sick and angry. Someone had done this to The Doctor. His beloved Doctor. He nodded and watched as Owen poured some into the substance. Almost immediately it started to foam, and gave off a putrid smell that made Jack retch. The two liquids seemed to have reacted, and had created a rusty, reddish brown colour. It no longer moved, but gently bubbled.

"That stinks" Ianto stood at the top of the stairs. "What is that?"

"A non-functioning antivenom attempt" Owen seemed down. It was obvious the 'antivenom' wasn't going to work.

"Well, we've had a call. Some weevils are running loose, better go sort them out."

Jack sighed. It was better than doing nothing he supposed, and it would keep his mind off The Doctor for a while.


	8. Chapter 8

*AUTHORS NOTE* I apologise for the delayed update of this chapter-have had a busy few weeks so fanfic took a bit of a back burner. Sorry to keep you waiting-here is the next chapter. Enjoy

Jack sat in the SUV, staring out at the world as it flew past the windows. Sorting out the weevils had only taken his mind off The Doctor a little.

"You're still quiet. Thinking of The Doctor?"

Ianto was driving, and two unconscious weevils were in the back. Jack nodded.

"We can find a cure, Jack"

"Stop saying that, GULT has obviously been around for years, if it's featured in a textbook from the academy he attended on Gallifrey." Jack sighed and laid his head against the window. "There is no cure that we can find, and we're running out of time again. The freezer won't stop GUILT, just slow it down."

"What would The Doctor say? You of all people should know he wouldn't want you to give up on him."

Jack turned, and threw Ianto a ferocious glare, but didn't say anything, he'd simply run out of energy to.

Ianto parked the SUV in its usual spot and they each heaved a weevil out of the back.

"Gonna have to clean that later" Ianto noted out loud. Together they made their way into the hub and put the weevils in the cells.

Jack was exhausted and just collapsed onto the sofa. Gwen looked up from one of the seemingly endless books that had appeared in the hub.

"You look like you could do with an early night" Gwen put her arm around Jack. Jack was too tired to argue and just nodded. Gwen got up and let Jack lie on the sofa. She covered him with a blanket and left him to sleep.

Jack soon fell into a deep sleep, intertwined with strange dreams, about The Doctor mostly. He woke up a couple of times and cried out; Ianto was by his side and gently soothed him back to sleep. It went like that most of the night, and Ianto was exhausted by the time dawn arose. Had managed to fall asleep on the medical bench whilst watching Owen try to create antivenom.

The atmosphere in the hub was subdued, and the others felt it as soon as they entered. They all knew that the sooner they could find a cure, the better. Jack was still a little volatile in his depressed state, and had started again spending his time in the TARDIS, where he felt closer to The Doctor.

"What are we going to do?" Gwen sat at the head of the briefing table, hands cupped around a steaming mug of hot chocolate. "Jack was right, Ianto. We are running out of time!"

Ianto sat next to her, studying a picture of a GUILT parasite.

"I don't know, Gwen. Jack's starting to loose hope, but we can't give up. We can't let his race die out"

"Can't he regenerate?" Tosh put in, "The Doctor explained it last time, that when something fatal happens to him, all the atoms in his body regenerate and he gets a new body"

"No, Jack said something about him still recovering from his regeneration, and they can't be so close together." Ianto tapped the pencil he was holding on the desk.

"There has to be a way to cure him" said Owen, who had said nothing until then, "as Ianto said, we can't give up on him"

"I have a feeling this parasite thing, it could be related to the mayfly we encountered at Pharm" Tosh said.

A shiver rippled through the team. The Pharm was where Owen had died, and where they had nearly lost Martha, Jack's old friend and one of The Doctor's old companions, as they later found out. The Pharm was barely ever mentioned, and Owen went about his daily business as if nothing had happened that day. The team still remembered his revival, and that sent another shiver down their backs at the problems that followed that event. The team said nothing for a minute, but just looked at eachother.

"that could well be true" Owen finally broke the silence. "if you think about it, it was injected into the bloodstream, 'reset' the body and then reproduced, killing the host in doing so. It works in pretty much the same way as GUILT, but without the 'reset' stage"

Gwen nodded. "Have you had a look at the sample yet?"

"No, I'm going to dissect it later, and see how it works" Owen stood up. "I'll go and do it now" he left the room, leaving the other three ,looking at eachother, wondering what next to do.

"I'll look into the Pharm incident again, see if I can find any more similarities" Tosh stood up and also left. She didn't really want to do this, it meant going through all the paperwork, seeing Owen's death written on that slip was too much to bear. She sighed and remembered what she was doing this for, to save The Doctor.

Jack came in from the TARDIS and walked over to Owen. Owen looked up from the GUILT parasite he was dissecting. "Jack"

"Owen, I have a serious thing to ask you"

Owen's stomach flipped. By the look on Jack's face, he already knew what was coming. "Yes?"

"If…..if we can't save him, I want you to…I want you to freeze me."


	9. Chapter 9

*AUTHORS NOTE* this will probably be my last update for two weeks now, so no, I haven't died! I'm going on holiday for a two weeks with my family and I'm not allowed to take the laptop with me D: so, alas dear readers, I have to abandon fanfic for a while. So enjoy this chapter and I promise to update as soon as I'm back.

Jack knew that it was a hard thing to ask the team to do, and it would tear them apart to do it, but he couldn't live without The Doctor, he would simply slip further and further into depression and loose interest in Torchwood altogether, and that was a much worse way for the team to loose their captain.

Owen looked up, pain in his eyes. "Jack…I can't"

"Please, please Owen. I can't live without The Doctor-he's what's kept me sane all this time. You have no idea what being immortal does to you."

"Jack, I have to live a whole extra lifetime remember. We're in the same boat…sort of"

"No, your life energy will eventually drain, you know that. I don't have the luxury of permanent death; I have to drag myself back every time"

"I'm not doing it, Jack, I can't" Owen sighed. "I can't"

Jack sat on the edge of the medical bench and sighed. It wavered towards the end and became a low sob. Gwen overheard the whole conversation and made her way over. She looked at Owen's stern, upset face, and Jack's tear stained one. She gave Jack a hug and looked at Owen.

"You're right, Owen. We can't loose Jack" she looked back at Jack. "We can't, Jack"

Jack sighed. "I can't do anything else"

"Come on, Jack. And what about the TARDIS?" Gwen knew it was what Jack would most likely do if they and they would, refuse to freeze him; take over the doctor's role and fly the magnificent ship.

Jack sniffed. "We'd keep it-if that thing got into the wrong hands well, fuck knows what would happen!"

Gwen laughed. "You sound like The Doctor" she smiled. "Doctor Jack"

Jack smiled and got up. "I'll think about it." He sighed again and got up off the bench. He looked towards the freezer pod and a shiver ran down his spine. He shook his head and went back up into the hub. Gwen looked at Owen.

"We have to help him"

Owen nodded. "I know, Gwen, the sooner we can the better" she looked at the GUILT parasite Owen was dissecting and wrinkled her nose. "That is gross"

"If t leads to something, then it's worthwhile"

"Yeah, especially if it leads to saving The Doctor" Gwen wandered up into the hub. It was quiet, Jack had disappeared either in his office or in the TARDIS, and Tosh was busily typing, and frowning at the screen in frustration. Gwen walked over to her and looked at the screen. It was a mess of rapidly changing numbers and codes. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to link the system in with the TARDIS, but its harder than I thought"

"It looks complicated" Gwen shook her head, Tosh carried on typing and Gwen went to her work station to file some paperwork, she had nothing else to do.

Suddenly, Tosh's computer shorted out, sending sparks flying everywhere. Tosh screamed and fell backwards. At the same moment, Ianto came in from outside, dragging an unconscious Jack. Gwen looked up and shouted for Owen, before running over and helping Ianto shift the dead weight of Jack. Together, with the help of Owen, they dragged him into the medical bench.

"he…he was just on the bay, I went up to see what he was up to, because he wasn't in his office. And he was just…there." Owen nodded; he didn't bother with any life saving procedures. If Jack was dead, he'd soon revive.

Several minutes passed, and there was no movement from Jack. The team started to look worried. "Come on, Jack" Ianto stroked Jack's hair. Several more minutes passed, still no movement from Jack.

"Why isn't he reviving?" Owen was getting frustrated. This wasn't supposed to happen!

"Maybe it's like that incident with Abbadon?" Ianto didn't take his eyes off the dead captain, waiting for him to take that huge gasp and return to them.

Finally, after 15 tense minutes, Jack gasped back to life and grabbed Ianto's hand, fear and shock etched onto his face. The team breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ianto….Ianto….oh my God" Jack sat, panting heavily. "that wasn't supposed to happen" he slid off the bed and wobbled a little bit, holding the medical bench for support.

"What happened Jack?" Ianto asked, worry still on his face.

"The TARDIS…never play with it" Jack smiled. "I was helping Tosh link the system to her, and it didn't like it very much, and decided to tell me so with a few thousand volts of energy" he sighed.

"My computer must have shorted out at the same moment then" Tosh called over from her workstation, where she was trying to fix the burnt out components.

"Mmmm, well, that's not going to work, connecting the TARDIS and us up then" Jack mused. "The Doctor would know what to do" he sighed. "He always does" he straightened up and strode up into the main hub, as if nothing had happened. The team looked at eachother. "How does he do it? Just…acting as if nothing has happened! He's just _died_!" Owen sighed.

"He won't cope without The Doctor" Ianto looked at the freezer pod. "and we're running out of time again."


	10. Chapter 10

*AUTHORS NOTE* I have returned from my travels, and so will update again, starting with now. Enjoy (see, I promised didn't I?) p.s sorry it's so short, this chapter was written quickly in an airport terminal, so I didn't have a chance to write much

jack didn't sleep well that night. He had gone to bed in the TARDIS; something he'd been doing since The Doctor had got so gravely ill. It made Jack feel closer almost linked to him.

Jack's sleep was broken by short, disturbing dreams from which he woke sweating, cold and screaming. One of them had deeply stirred him and it chilled him to the bone. As he lay staring up at the high ceiling of the room, he could hear the low, comforting whirr the ship constantly made. It was comforting and eventually eased him into a deep, cold sleep.

Jack stood on the bay, dwarfed by the water tower and coat flapping in the cold, harsh, bitter wind. He shivered as snow began to fall. It came down in billowing drifts, settling on everything. "Jack" a voice barely whispered. Jack looked up. The Doctor stood opposite him. Still. He looked at Jack with a pain burning in his eyes that wrenched at Jack's heart. He moved to touch the timelord, but found he couldn't. He couldn't move, couldn't make a sound. He tried to vent a frustrated scream, but couldn't. "I'm so cold, Jack. Help me" The Doctor was disappearing in a blizzard of cold white flakes. Jack tried to call out, to reach for his beloved Doctor, but was still paralysed, rooted to the spot. "Jack" The Doctor was fading from view, only a vague outline was visible among the blurred white of the blizzard. "Jack" The Doctor disappeared from Jack's view.

Jack jolted awake, screaming the Doctor's name and drenched in cold sweat. He sat up and ran a hand through his thick black hair, before lying back down and pulling the duvet closer. It still smelt of The Doctor; even though the TARDIS had been through regeneration, it still had the same smell.

The Doctor had a smell Jack couldn't describe. It was old, like a musty room or an old book, and it was comforting, like home, and it was alien, just like The Doctor himself. Jack inhaled it, rolled over and fell back into that cold, deep sleep he had tried to fend off for fear of more dreams.

Jack was back in the bay, trying to make out the shape of The Doctor as the swirling, spinning, and confusing mass of snow that was blurring and disfiguring him. This time, Jack could move. He sprinted through the mass of snow and reached his beloved Timelord. He touched his face. It was icy cold, and his lips were tinted blue from the cold.

"You're freezing!" Jack tried to say, but he was still mute.

"Help me, Jack" The Doctor's voice was barely a whisper. "Jack, Jaaack!"

"Jack! JACK!" Gwen shook the sleeping immortal. "God, he's freezing Ianto!"

Ianto felt Jack's skin. It was icy cold. He sighed. The room was warm, the sheets were warm. So why was Jack so cold? "Bloody hell, it's like he's been…frozen" Ianto trailed off, a realisation starting to form in his mind. Maybe the TARDIS had picked up on Jack's wish to be frozen, to be with The Doctor, and put him in a coma like, cold state. He would have to ask The Doctor when…if he woke up.


	11. Chapter 11

"I wasn't hallucinating!" Jack was almost shouting now. He was getting angry that his team didn't believe him. "It was real, I know it!" he let out a frustrated yell and ran out the hub, leaving a bewildered team staring after him.

Jack slammed the door of the TARDIS shut, and sank down to the floor dejectedly; all hope had gone from him. He just knew they weren't going to save him, whoever had done this had won. The TARDIS gave a creak, which sounded like an upset groan. Jack looked up at the huge space it contained. "I know, I miss him too" it felt weird talking to the great ship, but at least it didn't think he was insane.

"Jack" The Doctors voice echoed inside the space, making Jack sit up.

"Doctor?"

"Don't give up, Jack. Please don't give up on me."

Jack's breath caught in his throat. "I...I...oh, Doctor...can you talk to the team too?"

"No, this is a psychic link, only you and I can communicate"

"Oh, well the team will still think I'm insane" Jack looked at the floor and sighed. "But I can still talk to you, whenever I want to, right?"

"No. Sorry, Jack. It takes alot of energy to make a connection. Energy I just don't have."

"Doctor...I love you" Jack's voice caught in his throat.

"Jack, don't..." The Doctor's voice was fading

"Doctor!" Jack was desperate to keep the Timelord talking, to hear his voice one more time, but he was gone. Jack pulled his knees up under his chin, rested his head in his arms, and sobbed.

"What do we do now?" Owen exclaimed, as he stared at his monitor. "How is that possible?" He had The Doctor's vitals up on the screen, and it was showing brain activity.

"We'd better take him out, I don't have a good feeling about this" Ianto looked up at the hub doors. "I'd better get Jack" he sprinted out of the hub and up to the TARDIS in record time, and opened the door to reveal a still sobbing Jack.

"Jack...we need you down at the hub"

Jack looked up. "I thought I was insane" he had a look of sadness and anger in his eyes.

"Oh Jack, don't be like that" Ianto knelt down by Jack, and put an arm round him. Jack pushed it off and stood up.

"What else can I be, Ianto? What can I do? Leave me alone!" he shouted the last three words with a bitter contempt.

"Jack," Ianto kept a soft, calm tone. "The Doctor needs you"

Jack looked up. "He's frozen, Ianto! He's with grey. It's hurting him, he wants it to stop!" Jack was pacing now, the anger in his stomach dying down.

"Jack...the team are defrosting him, there's something not right-" Before Ianto could finish, Jack raced out of the TARDIS, leaving the blue wooden door swinging in the wind.

Jack skidded to a halt at the top of the steps, and surveyed the scene panting. The freezer pod was open and The Doctor lay on the medical bench, unconscious, pale and dead looking. Jack jumped down the steps and stood by his side, tears threatening to spill and the anger reignited inside him.

"His vitals are stabillising" Owen announced, eyes flicking from The Doctor and the image on his monitor. "His heartbeats and breathing should normalise in a few minutes"

Jack nodded wordlessly, focusing on The Doctor. Everything seemed as if it were in a dream; he wished he could wake up, and find the past few weeks to have been a horrible nightmare.

"Jack?" The Doctor's voice sliced through his thoughts, and jolted Jack back to the hub. The Doctor looked up at him, his face almost white and the glint that was usually in his eyes was dull. He looked closer to death than ever.

"Doctor" Jack choked out, struggling to suppress the sob building in his chest.

"Why...did you...freeze me?" There was an accusing tone in the voice he could barely get out.

"We had to" Tears were streaming down Jack's face now, and splashing onto The Doctor. "We didn't have a choice"

"You're crying" The Doctor reached across and brushed the tears from Jack's face. "Don't cry"

Jack sniffed, and struggled to stop the sob from erupting from him. "Doctor, you..."

"Jack..." The Doctor had pushed himself up into a sitting position, but had to lie back down; the effort was too much. "The link worked"

The team looked at eachother. "The link?" Ianto frowned. "What does he mean?"

Jack turned and glared at them. "A psychic link. He could speak to me and I could speak to him." He smiled smugly. "Told you I wasn't mad" He smiled at The Doctor.

"I-" The Doctor didn't get to finish; his sentence was interrupted by a round of coughing and heavy retching. When he had finished, a thin trickle of blood was running from his nose. Jack grabbed the sterile wipe from Owen and mopped it up, holding it under to catch any more blood. When it had finished, he removed it and threw it in the medical bin.

"Shhh, Doctor, you're weak, stay still"

The Doctor sighed, and nodded. He looked up at Jack with dark, intelligent eyes. Fear was burning in them, dulling the light that usually shone from them. It reminded Jack painfully of what was happening to the one person he treasured more than anything.

"I'm going to sedate him, Jack. He's still weak and it's easier to monitor his vitals if he's unconscious" Owen already had the syringe and needle in his hand, and was rolling up The Doctor's sleeve, ready for the injection.

"Jack, I don't want..." His voice trailed off, replaced by a yelp as Owen administered the injection.

"Sorry, Doctor. It will help you"

The Doctor focused his gaze on Jack and nodded. "Okay" it was slurred as the drugs took effect. He closed his eyes and was unconscious. Jack stroked The Doctor's hair, taking in his renewed features. He had deeper set eyes than the previous Doctor, and lighter hair that fell over the left hand side of his face in a swooping, quiff like fringe. He also had a sqareish jaw and a largish nose that somehow fitted his face. Jack liked it almost as much as he loved the previous Doctor. A fresh set of tears started to fall at the thought that Jack would never be able to experience time with this new Doctor as he had with the old. He sighed, stood up and ran back up to the TARDIS.

Nobody followed; they all knew Jack was having a hard time coping, and preferred to be alone most of the time.

The hub was quiet, except the regular bleeping of the heart monitor in the medical area, and the occasional whirr of Tosh's backup computer, which was running a variety of backup and communication programmes. Tosh was busily working on the repair of her main computer, which had all four monitors working. Owen was monitoring The Doctor, Ianto was brewing a fresh round of coffee for the team, and Gwen sat at her workstation, going over some paperwork.

The sky hat turned an ominous purple above the bay, and the rumbling growl of distant thunder could be heard as the clouds deposited their load as a drizzling trickle, which rapidly became a soaking downpour. The raindrops rattled on the doors of the TARDIS, which stood resilient and waiting by the water tower, waiting for the man Jack was sure would never return to the great, amazing ship. Jack sat on the bottom step of one of the staircases leading up from the main area. He sighed, his chest aching from sobbing. He hadn't noticed the rain and the approaching storm battering the TARDIS and now sat, listening to the silence only filled by the falling of the rain and the occasional deep rumble of thunder. He walked over to the door and opened it, instantly feeling the sharp sting as the wind driven rain struck his face. He looked up at the swirls of silver, black and grey, tinged with purple all mingling in the sky. The silence was also punctuated by blinding flashes as forked lightning ripped the sky in two. Jack sighed, and stepped back inside. He felt as if his heart was being ripped in two, just like the sky.


	12. Chapter 12

The rain didn't stop all night, it continued to hammer down on the bay all day. Jack had lain awake on the floor of the TARDIS, listening to the sound that was similar to white noise created by the millions of droplets of water hitting the concrete ground, and thinking about The Doctor. The storm had moved on, leaving only the rain to fall. Jack stared sleepily at the roof of the TARDIS; listening to the whirr it made that was so comforting to him.

"Jack, you there?" The Doctor's voice tapped into his mind.

"Yeah, I'm here, I can hear you" Jack felt a lump forming in his throat and bit back the urge to cry.

"I don't know if I'm going to pull through this, Jack" Jack could sense fear in the words.

"Doctor, you said not to give up" Jack knew that it was futile, they were going to lose The Doctor, but he couldn't bear hearing The Doctor accept it so. "Don't give up."

"You have. I know, I'm in your mind"

"Doctor...I'm sorry," Jack took in a breath, struggling to keep himself under control.

"Don't be. It's not your fault." The Doctor's voice was calm, but Jack knew he was suppressing his feelings, the same as Jack. "I...I'm scared, Jack."

Jack's insides gave a jolt. The Doctor never admitted he was scared. Tears started to fall again, stinging his already swollen and puffy eyes. "Doctor I'm not giving up on you, I never did and I'm not about to start"

"Jack, be strong, for me" The Doctor's voice faded, leaving Jack alone once more. Jack couldn't hold it any longer, and a fresh round of sobbing erupted from him. After a while, he curled up where he was, too exhausted to move, and fell into a deep sleep.

Jack was running, following the blurred shapes in front of him, obscured by smoke which filled his lungs, making him cough. He could hear muffled shouting, screams and the various sounds of battle behind him. He looked back to see the citadel of the Timelords engulfed in flames, and looked away and ahead, only to discover the two shapes he was following had disappeared, engulfed in the smoke. Jack jolted awake, coughing, the taste of the smoke still lingering in his mouth. He momentarily forgot where he was and looked around in blind panic, before remembering he was in the TARDIS. He sat up, trying to make sense of the vision-like dream he had just woken from, but his mind was too exhausted still to work properly. He sighed, lay back down and as his eyes closed, one word echoed inside his head, 'Doctor'.

Jack was in the TARDIS, trying to keep the ship steady as sparks flew everywhere. It landed with a huge thump, shaking him off his feet. He picked himself up and opened the door, revealing a monstrous cavern filled with Sycorax. He saw Rose, Mickey and a load of other people, who were being shouted at by a particularly irate Sycorax. Then everything moved fast, he remembered shouting at Rose and fighting the Sycorax, then everything went fast again and he was somewhere else. He looked around and saw The Master. A loud bang sounded and The Master stumbled backwards and collapsed. Jack rushed forwards and cradled the dying Master, who looked up at him and said something about The Drums before his eyes rolled back in his head. An immense feeling of sadness filled Jack, and he cradles the limp body closer. Then everything fast forwarded again and he was screaming as Rose was sucked into the void, and then there was nothing but a wall, through which he could hear Rose. Once again everything fast forwarded and he was on a red bus, in the middle of a desert. A woman told him that 'he will knock four times" which confused him. Gwen was there too but before he could make sense of it he was being moved fast again, and was standing, staring at the great Timelord Rassilon. Once again everything moved fast and The master, Jack knew it was The Master battled with Rassilon, sending a stream of bright light at him, sending them both back into the time war. Jack remembered crouching in the broken glass and Wilf pleading with him not to let him out because he knew it would kill him, but doing it anyway. Then everything moved fast one last time and Jack was back in the TARDIS, and pain was ripping through him as he stood, engulfed by a golden light and the immense pillars of the ship collapsed and fire and sparks danced all around. Jack awoke screaming and covered in sweat. Panting, he heaved himself to his feet, struggling to control the retches that racked his body. He had to get out of the TARDIS. He wrenched open the door and ran out across the bay. The rain still hammered down, instantly soaking him. Jack ran, but slipped on the wet surface and went crashing to the ground with a wet thud. He lay there, winded and panting, a mixture of shock and cold and pain keeping him on the ground. He tried to get up, but gave up and just stayed there, the rain soaking him as it fell in great sheets of water. What's the point? He thought. I only get up to be pushed down again. Jack shivered, and a pair of feet came into view and then a face as the figure bent down to look at him.

"Jack, come on, you're getting soaked out here" Ianto helped Jack heave himself to his feet, and half walked half dragged him back to the hub. Jack looked back to see the TARDIS being obscured by the rain and then looked away. "What were you doing?"

"Fell over" Jack mumbled through chatting teeth, "Didn't see the point in getting up."

"Come on, let's get you dried off" Ianto led Jack through the doors of the hub. Tosh looked up, a look of worry on her face.

"Jack! What happened?" She rushed over and helped Ianto take off Jack's big coat, which was dripping water and heavy with wet. Jack just stood there and let them take it, staring at the medical area where Owen was monitoring The Doctor. "Jack?"

"Fell over" Jack mumbled again.

"We saw, you got us worried, we thought you'd collapsed or something!" Tosh was now helping Ianto lead Jack to the sofa, and remove his shirt. Tosh took the coat and shirt to dry and Jack shivered and wrapped the blanked Ianto handed him around himself. Ianto disappeared and reappeared a minute later with a fresh mug of hot coffee. He handed it to Jack and sat next to him. Jack leant against him, comforted by his presence.

"Something spooked you, didn't it?" Ianto stared into Jack's eyes, His muddy brown eyes meeting Jack's light blue ones.

Jack paused. "Yeah" He pulled the blanked closer around himself and sipped the coffee, feeling the warmth spread through him. "I had visions...well, dreams but they were so clear, like memories almost. But they weren't mine" He shuddered. "They were The Doctor's"


	13. Chapter 13

Ianto looked at Jack as he slept. The blanket had slipped down, revealing his bare torso. One arm dangled off the edge of the sofa. He couldn't move, because Jack was using him as a pillow, and was worried that if he moved he would wake Jack. Tosh and Gwen had gone home, so he had decided to stay and look after Jack, to make sure he didn't do anything stupid. Owen was busy looking after The Doctor in the medical area and didn't need to be worrying about Jack as well, he didn't have time to.

Suddenly, Jack's eyes flew open and he started to buckle and thrash, moaning and screaming as he did so. Quickly, Ianto moved the blanket and bunched it under Jack's head and called for Owen. Jack was still shaking and writhing, as if he were fitting, his face contorted into a twisted scream of agony.

Owen rushed up to them, armed with a syringe. He knelt by Jack and shone a light into Jack's open eyes. The pupils didn't respond. "Shit" Owen put the torch down. "Jack, can you hear me? Jack!" Jack didn't respond, and continued fitting-Owen couldn't describe it as anything else-and moaning. Without hesitation, Owen plunged the syringe into Jack's arm and waited with baited breath. Ianto looked at him.

"What did you give him?"

"adreanal-" But before Owen could finish, Jack let out a scream and rolled onto his side, curled in a tight ball. The fitting seemed to have stopped, but Jack stayed unconscious, spasming occasionally. "Shit" Owen got up and thundered back down to the medical area.

Ianto crouched by Jack, stroking his thick black hair and reassuring him that he was going to be okay. He knew Jack wasn't hearing him, and was still gripped by whatever it was that had caused him to be like this. He could feel Jack's heartbeat hammering inside his chest, like his own, which felt like a bird was trapped inside his ribcage. He felt his reassurances were for himself more than anyone.

Owen thundered back up from the medical area, syringes in each hand. Without pausing, he injected one straight into Jack's neck. He removed it and waited. Nothing happened. "Oh for the love of god and everything holy!" Owen desperately injected the second syringe, and looked at Ianto.

"I don't know what this is, I've given him painkillers now, it won't stop it but it will make it less painful. We're going to have to move him down to the medical area; it will be easier to treat him there."

"Okay" Together, they lifted and carried Jack down to the medical area. Owen looked at The Doctor, who was beginning to stir. He sighed; he would have to deal with him after they had sorted Jack out. Working fast, He set up one last cocktail of drugs and injected it into Jack. Almost immediately, the spasming stopped, and Jack let out a low moan.

"Jack!" A slurred voice sounded from the medical bench. The Doctor was sitting up and staring at the immortal on the floor. "What happened?" He swung his legs over the bench and slid off, stumbling. He flopped to the floor beside Jack and stared at his unconscious body. He was ill, and had almost no strength, but The Doctor managed to summon up the energy to connect with Jack. Gently, he placed his shaking and pale hands on either side of his head. He looked up at Ianto and Owen. "I haven't got much energy left, but I know what's happening" The Doctor looked down at Jack. "He's seeing what I've seen." He murmured, and then went quiet, staring directly into Jack's open, vacant eyes.

Jack couldn't pull himself away. He stood, eyes fixed upon himself standing in the bay, a look of intense pain and fear on his face. The snow was falling around them both in thickening drifts, the chill spreading through him like ice.

"Jack" The Doctor's voice pierced through the silence. "Jack, hear me, follow my voice" Jack was listening.

"Doctor" He murmured

"Yes, I'm here. Follow me, let me draw you up" Suddenly, there was a sharp jolt filled with blinding light. Jack gave a scream. "Sorry, Jack. One more, be brave for me" Another sickening jolt came, accompanied by the blinding flash of light and suddenly Jack was in the hub, lying on his back in the medical area. He looked up and met The Doctor's dark, brown eyes.

"Doctor...I...you...Oh, Doctor!" Jack sat up and threw his arms around the Timelord.

The Doctor weakly hugged him back. "Jack, I'm so sorry"

Jack broke the hug. "You've seen so much" Tears spilled over and ran down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry" The Doctor whispered, his eyes had lost their shine altogether. "I love you, Jack" he seemed to crumple, and slumped onto the floor, all colour gone from him and a dull sheen seemed to cloud over his eyes. Jack knew what had happened immediately.

"NO!" he screamed and hugged The Doctor close. "NO! No no no! Doctor! Don't leave me! You can't leave me!" tears poured down his cheeks, running onto The Doctor's and falling down his cheek as well. "Doctor, Doctor!" Jack gently rocked the dead Timelord back and forth, sobbing as he did so.

Ianto knelt down by Jack and put an arm round him. "Oh, Jack..." He didn't know what to say. "I'm so, so sorry"

Jack didn't answer, and just kept rocking The Doctor, hugging him to his chest in a way that reminded Jack, with a jolt of pain, of the way The Doctor had cradled The Master's body. Jack let out a scream of frustration, and sadness, and fear. The Doctor had been his beacon of hope in a dark tunnel, his candle in the dark, his comfort in sadness. The only Timelord left in existence, and it was gone. The Doctor was everything Jack had lived for, and now he was gone. It stilled a bitter resentment in him, and reminded him that the things you love in life, eventually you lose them.

He looked up at Owen and Ianto. "I'm bringing him back" he announced, his voice shaking, holding back another round of sobbing. "I'm bringing him back!" he bent over The Doctor and kissed him. They stayed like that for several minutes, before Jack broke the kiss and stroked The Doctor's fringe out of his eyes. The Doctor gasped, and coughed, before screaming. "Shhh, Doctor, its Jack, shhh" He picked The Doctor up, surprised and shocked at how light he had become. He looked at Owen. "Freeze him; I don't know how long he's got. I'm not losing him, not again, not now, not ever!" Jack looked down at the broken Doctor, who returned his gaze with dark, frightened eyes. Owen opened the freezer pod. Jack lowered him in as Owen quickly set up the sedatives.

"Jack" The Doctor murmured. "I'm scared...don't..."

The Words shattered Jack's heart. "I'm sorry, Doctor. It'll save you. I'm not losing you." Tears rolled down his cheeks once more. The Doctor reached up and stroked them away.

"Okay" He paused. "Look after the TARDIS"

"I will" Jack nodded at Owen, who injected the sedatives. He held The Doctor's hand as they took effect and The Doctor sank into cold unconsciousness. Owen set the cryogenics and Jack turned away. He couldn't stay in the hub and ran out and up into the bay. The rain hadn't stopped and it stung his bare torso as it hammered down on him, driven relentlessly by a bitter wind. Ominous clouds hovered in the twilit distance, threatening another storm. Jack kept running through the rain and skidded to a slippery halt outside the TARDIS. He put his hands flat out against the wood. It felt cold. He took in a deep breath and pulled the door open.

The TARDIS was cold. It made Jack shiver and goose pimples break out over his bare skin. He looked around the space. It hadn't changed much, but the lighting had dimmed, and it had an icy coldness. Jack sighed, and sat down on one of the staircases, thinking about the disturbing insights to the things The Doctor had seen. "I won't lose him" Jack said, to nobody in particular. The TARDIS gave a creak and a shudder, as if in response. "I know" He patted the staircase he was sitting on and stood up. The TARDIS groaned again. Jack sighed and trudged wearily towards the library, he was determined to find a clue to the cure, determined not to lose The Doctor.


	14. Chapter 14

The hub was unusually silent. Tosh sat on the floor, patiently re-circuiting various components in the last monitor. She knew they wouldn't last too long, and would have to be replaced, but she had nothing else she could do. She sighed and put down the small welding torch she was using, that had just snapped in her hands after weeks of strenuous use, stood up and straightened her legs. She made her way down to the storage vaults, where she knew she had a spare one stored.

Tosh shivered; the vaults were colder than the main hub, and smelt damp and earthy. Tosh keyed in the code and hurried into the main vault. Inside, there was a vast arrangement of parts of alien technology that had fallen through the rift, space debris which, like driftwood on the coastline, often washed up along the rift lines. Tosh reached up for the box she knew held the spare welding torch, and accidentally dislodged a box that was balancing rather precariously on the shelf below. It fell to the floor with a loud clattering clang, sending bits of alien technology skittering across the floor. She sighed and began picking them up and putting them back in the box, until she picked up one particular object. She recognized it as the Singularity Scalpel, from the incident at the Pharm, and the memories sent a shudder rippling down her spine. That was when Owen was shot, when he died. She shook the thought from her mind, but suddenly had an idea. They had used the scalpel to save Martha from a similar blood parasite to GUILT; Jack had even linked them when they did the research. Maybe it would work on The Doctor. The Welding torch forgotten, she ran back up towards the hub, a plan forming inside her genius mind as she went.

A deep rumble of thunder echoed across the bay, the sound reverberating off the buildings. The storm was closing in over Cardiff. Jack lay on the floor of the TARDIS' vast library, surrounded by various books. His head rested on the open pages of one, deeply asleep.

Ianto ran across the bay, the slab of concrete quietly clicking into place behind him. The TARDIS stood in the darkness, almost glowing in the sodium orange light. Panting, Ianto pulled open the door and stumbled inside, dripping rainwater everywhere. Looking around, he took in the vast space the TARDIS contained, and it took a moment to get his head around. He noticed that Jack wasn't in the main area and took off up the flight of steps he knew lead to the library. He had guessed right, and skidded to a halt amongst the books littering the floor, and saw Jack soundly asleep in the middle of the floor. Gently, he knelt by him, and shook him awake. "Jack, Jack! Wake up!" For a horrible second he thought Jack had gone into another one of those coma-like states, but was relieved when Jack opened his eyes and mumbled something indistinct. "Jack, we need you in the hub, its important" Ianto started pulling Jack up onto his feet.

Jack stood up quickly. "Is it The Doctor? What's wrong?"

"Just come on!" Ianto didn't have time to explain, and just grabbed Jack and lead him back out into the rain.

The darkness was a shock to Jack, and the cold hit his skin hard, raising goose pimples across it as he was half dragged across the bay. The last thing he saw was the TARDIS, door open and swinging in the wind as the invisible lift descended into the hub. The noise hit Jack first, the warmth second and then what was happening registered with him slightly behind. Tosh stood at the top of the medical area steps, waving something Jack couldn't quite see, and Owen was frowning very hard and looking from the monitor and the freezer pod. Gwen was looking at Jack as the lift descended, holding his Jacket and shirt and biting her lower lip. Ianto's grip tightened on Jack's arm and stepped off the platform, still dragging Jack with him. As they got closer to the medical area, Jack realised that Tosh was holding the Singularity Scalpel and his heart gave a jolt of both shock and expectation. What was she doing with it? And what did it have to do with The Doctor? Gwen smiled as He stopped by the stairs, and handed him his coat and shirt. Jack nodded his thanks and pulled them on, not bothering to button up the shirt and just wearing it open, coat over the top. He ran a hand through his hair and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, before absorbing the scene fully. Taking the Singularity Scalpel from Tosh, he inspected it and looked up at the team.

"What's going on?" He struggled to keep his voice calm and let his blue eyes meet each of the team's individually, finally resting back on the instrument he held in his hand. Owen was the first to break the silence.

"We could use it to try to save the doctor" His voce tailed off, sounding more like a question than an explanation.

Jack sighed, "does it even work?"

Owen sighed. "I don't know, Jack. We're getting desperate. We can't keep him frozen forever"

"We need to save him" Jack's voce shook; he was starting to lose it again. He took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, gathering his thoughts. "Do you think you could use it without blowing his head off?"

Owen hesitated. He hadn't used the scalpel since the incident at the Pharm. He was alive then. He shuddered and pushed the thought to the back of his mind. The scalpel had saved both Martha and Gwen. He nodded. "I'll practice on something first"

Jack nodded. "Have you still got that blood sample?"

"No, Jack, I'm not using you!" Owen shook his head, a deep frown on his face.

"Owen, I'm the only living person who can withstand anything, I'm your only option" Jack moved towards Owen and put his hands on his shoulders. "I'll do anything to get him back, Owen. You are testing that thing on me, and that's an order"

Owen looked at the team and shrugged. "What can I do?" he mouthed and moved forwards, taking the small vile of blood he had taken from The Doctor. Gently, he transferred half of it into a syringe. Jack shrugged off his coat and sat on the medical bench. Owen sighed and brought the syringe over. Gently, he injected it into Jack's arm, and waited. A few moments passed, and, just like before, Jack seemed to crumple. He slid off the bench and began writhing on the floor, moaning in pain as the parasite raced through his bloodstream. Acting quickly, Owen took the singularity scalpel and powered it up. As it started to work, Jack was gasping for air desperately as the parasite started to destroy his lungs. A shape appeared. It fit Jack's and moved with him. It showed millions of whitish images of GUILT, all raging inside it. Jack's breaths were becoming more ragged now, and he was barely conscious, a trickle of blood dribbling down his chin and from his nose. A larger shape was forming in the centre of Jack's body, and it grew as Owen watched. Owen hit the button on the scalpel and Jack stopped moving. A scream escaped his lips and all the images disappeared. Jack sat up and looked around, breathing heavily. Using the medical bench for support, he hauled himself up, panting and retching.

"It...worked" he panted

Owen nodded. "Yeah" He looked towards the freezer pod. Could he really save The Doctor? He looked back at Jack, who was now pale, but okay, and gazing over at the freezer pod which contained The Doctor. He nodded. "Let's do it" He shakily raised the scalpel and nodded at Tosh.

Tosh gingerly stepped up to the controls, and set the cryogenics do defrost. The machine beeped, and the pod glowed orange as it began to warm up. Jack stood by Ianto, who squeezed his hand in sympathy. Jack squeezed it back. The freezer pod beeped again, indicating that it had fully defrosted. Jack raced forwards and opened the pod.

The Doctor lay, looking even more gaunt and pale and dead than before. Jack hadn't noticed it till now, but the freezer pod resembled a coffin. Jack couldn't bear the thought of him staying like that permanently. Gently, Jack lifted The Doctor from the pod and laid him on the bench. He looked at Owen and nodded. "Do it, I don't know how long he's got"

Owen nodded and once again powered up the scalpel. The Doctor's outline flickered on the screen, filled with thousands of white images of the parasite. There was one huge one in the centre, which looked almost ready to burst from The Doctor, killing him stone dead. Owen looked at Jack and pressed the button. The Doctor's body arched and a scream pierced the silence. His body slammed down onto the bench and was still. Owen checked the image the scalpel was now showing, and it was free of the images. Jack looked up at him. "Did it work?" His voice was full of hope and expectation.

"I don't know...The parasites seem to have gone, but...He should be conscious" His voice trailed off.

"It didn't work" He moaned, and rested his head on the Timelord's chest. "It didn't WORK!" he shouted, his emotions breaking from the restraints Jack had put on them. He screamed in anger and pain. He wasn't going to get The Doctor back. He had got his hopes up just for them to be shot back down.

"Jack?" A small voice broke through Jack's anger. He stopped, and looked down at The Doctor.

"Doctor. Oh, Doctor!" Jack smiled, wiped the tears from his face, and pulled him into a sitting position, and then into a hug. "Oh, Doctor!" he repeated over and over. He eventually and rather reluctantly let The Doctor lie back down. He looked up at Jack with his dark eyes. The light was back, but it was still dull. Jack knew it would take him time to recover, but he didn't care. He had his beautiful Timelord back.

"Doctor, you're still not out of the woods, I'm going to sedate you, so that I can help you to recover." Owen was already placing the heart monitor electrodes on The Doctor's chest. The Doctor nodded and Owen started setting up a sedative. He then administered it and The Doctor looked up at Jack.

"I'll be here when you wake up, I promise" Jack planted a kiss on his forehead and ruffled his hair.

"Love you Jack" The Doctor's words were slurring and then he was asleep. Jack sighed, turned and took Owen into a huge bear hug. "Thank you, thank you so much, Owen. He means so much...and I don't know what I would have done if..." He couldn't say it.

Owen nodded modestly. "It's not me you need to thank; she found the Scalpel in storage and suggested it"

Jack turned to Tosh, who was still standing by the computer. She smiled shyly. "It was-" she didn't finish as Jack had pulled her into a bone crushing hug.

"Thank you, Tosh. So much" He smiled down at her.

"I know how much he means to you" She squeezed his hand. "We all do. We're all here to support you, Jack. You know that." She smiled and went up into the hub. Jack sat down on the stool by the medical bench and held The Doctor's unconscious hand. Owen got out the scanner and ran it over The Doctor; it worked much like an x-ray and an MRI scanner together. It showed his major organs, still badly damaged by the GUILT parasite. Jack gasped.

"That's..." He didn't want to say it. He knew those injuries were causing internal bleeding. Owen looked at him.

"He's going to need surgery. Now"


	15. Chapter 15

The door to the hub opened, accompanied by the grinding of cogs and sirens that sounded whenever it was opened. Martha stepped into the hub, and smiled at Gwen, who came rushing over to greet her.

"Gwen!" she cried, "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks. And yourself?" Gwen gave her a friendly hug.

"I'm fine, how's The Doctor? I came as soon as I got the message. UNIT was not impressed but I am entitled to compassionate leave, and they let me leave when I told them it was to do with The Doctor."

Gwen nodded, her face sombre. "He's in a bit of a state, Owen's prepping him now."

"How long has he been with you, and what happened exactly?" Martha wanted to know everything that had happened during the past three weeks, and listened to everything Gwen said. She felt her heart break with sympathy for Jack, and sadness for how close they were to loosing The Doctor. She stepped down into the area and greeted Owen, before getting ready for surgery. They had no time to lose.

"Martha, you ready?" Owen finished prepping The Doctor and snapped on a pair of surgical gloves.

"Yeah" Martha cleaned her hands and forearms in the iodine solution, rinsed them and put on her surgical gloves. She turned to Jack, who stood at the top of the stairs, watching the two doctors preparing to operate on the one man that meant the world to him. "We'll take care of him, Jack, I promise. I'll let you know when we're finished so you can be here when he comes round."

Jack was glad Martha was here. She knew how much The Doctor meant to him. He sighed, unsure of what to do. He wanted to relax, but couldn't knowing that The Doctor was undergoing surgery. A hand slipped into his and he looked down at Tosh. She smiled up at him, a sympathetic look in her eyes. "Want to go for a coffee? It'll take your mind off of it"

"Yeah, I suppose" Jack smiled, and together they left the hub.

"How come The Doctor looks different?" Tosh sat opposite Jack in a small cafe overlooking the bay. Jack could see the TARDIS standing by the water tower. It reassured Jack to know it was there, that part of The Doctor was still standing tall and resilient, even if the man himself was currently unconscious and under the knife.

"Well, it's a bit difficult to explain. Timelords have their way of cheating death. When they are mortally injured, or something like that, they can regenerate."

"So, they get a new body?"

"Yes, that's it." Jack took a sip of his coffee.

"So why didn't he regenerate again?" Tosh frowned, confused for what felt like the first time in her life.

"I don't know, maybe he can't regenerate twice too close together" Jack absent mindedly stirred his coffee, deep in thought. "Or he's reached his limit..." Jack sighed, and decided he was going to savour every moment, however brief, with The Doctor.

"How's the coffee?" Tosh wanted to try and help him to take his mind off The Doctor's plight.

"Not as good as Ianto's" He mused out loud and sighed. "I hope The Doctor pulls through."

Tosh took his hands and looked into his eyes. "He'll be okay. Martha and Owen are doing all they can, Jack"

"I know, I just...don't want to lose him, not now." He half heartedly dipped the shortcake biscuit that came with his coffee into it and took a bite.

"look at that" Owen finished stitching one particularly deep cut in The Doctor's stomach, and watched as another smaller cut began knitting itself back together.

"Oh yeah" Martha watched the cut healing itself. "Must be his immune system kicking back into action" She picked up a fresh needle and suturing threads, and began stitching another deep wound which didn't seem to be healing.

"That's incredible!" Owen watched, mesmerised as several more smaller cuts began closing, leaving only scar tissue to remind them of their presence.

"Well, he's incredible" Martha finished stitching up another cut and removed the thread from the needle. Cutting it expertly she set the instruments down and looked at Owen. "Are we done?"

"I'd say so" Owen took a fresh needle and began stitching together the large incision they had made, removing the surgical clamp that held it open whilst they worked.

Jack's phone rang on the table. He answered it on the second ring. "Gwen? How is he?" He listened intently to Gwen's voice on the other end, nodding and going "hmmmm" and "yep" every so often. After a couple of minutes, he hung up and stood up. "They're just finishing up." He told Tosh. Together, they left the cafe, and walked across the bay. Jack wished the lift would go faster; he was desperate to see how Martha and Owen had done. As soon as the lift reached floor height, Jack leapt off the lift and ran across to the medical area. His heart stopped when he saw The Doctor lying on the bench, a thin sheet covering him apart from his head, which stuck out, an oxygen tube in his nose. Slowly, Jack descended the stairs and took The Doctor's hand. "Oh, Doctor" he breathed, and smoothed back his hair from his face.

"We only stitched up the deeper cuts, the others seem to be healing themselves" Martha put her hand on Jack's shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. "He'll be waking up soon; the anaesthetic wears off quicker on him"

Jack turned to look at Martha. "He'll be okay though, right?"

"He should recover okay, yes. It might take him a while to get back to his normal self, but if everything goes well, he'll be fine, just with a few battle scars."

Jack pulled Martha into a huge bear like hug, tears in his eyes. "Thank you, thank you _so _much!" He turned to Owen, who was putting the surgical instruments they'd been using into the steriliser. "Owen, you deserve a huge thank you too! Thank you all of you!" Jack leant down and kissed The Doctor's forehead. "I never gave up on you" He whispered into his ear. "I never will"


	16. Chapter 16

*AUTHORS NOTE* sorry for taking so long in updating-been busy this week. Please don't kill me D: on a different note, i am having a clearout of stories and deleting old ones (dont worry, GUILT is staying!) just review me the other ones you would like me to keep. :) the reason im deleting the old ones is simply because i have lost interest in them, and i feel you have too. i am just getting rid of them to make room for better stories. ok im rambling now so ima go and let you read the next chapter. enjoy :)

A few days passed, and The Doctor was making good progress. Aided, he was able to walk and was talking alot more, but he was still sleeping alot of the time, and still very weak.

"Jack, I'm sorry" The Doctor said , sitting in his office in the chair, wearing a borrowed pair of pyjamas that were way too big for him. The drip stand stood behind him, the bag attatched to the doctor through an IV line. It was a stark reminder of how ill he still was.

"For what?" Jack took a sip of his coffee. "There's nothing you've done you need to apologise for"

"There is" The Doctor put his hand on Jacks. "The memories, the link. I'm so sorry I put you through that, but I had to let you know, that I was still with you. That I wasn't going to leave you." He paused. "The things you saw..." He sighed. "Theres a reason I ran, and I didn't want you to see it"

"It's okay, it really is. I still love you, I always have. I always will" Jack leaned over and kissed The Doctor. "It's okay."

The Doctor yawned and smiled. "I suppose i owe my life to you and Torchwood." He paused. "Never thought I'd say that."

Jack snorted. "Me neither!" They both laughed, and then The Doctor winced. "Damn, I forgot Im still ill" He smiled. "I'll be better soon though." He got up and Jack supported him. pulling the IV stand behind him. Martha looked up from Tosh's workstation, which she was sharing whilst she was at the hub. She had managed to secure two week's leave from UNIT, and was spending the time with the team, and making sure The Doctor was going to be okay before she left. She smiled and The Doctor smiled back.

The Doctor sat down heavlly on the medical bench, looking tired and gaunt. He lay down slowly, wincing as the healing wound stretched a little. He put his head on the pillow that had been taken from one of the cupboards, and Jack covered him with the blanket. "Jack?"

"Yes?"

"You sleeping in the TARDIS?"

"Yeah, why?"

"keep it tidy, tell martha she can stay there too if she wants."

"I will, I think she's staying at Gwen's though."

"Good, at least shes staying somethere" He smiled, and winced again. Jack sighed and called owen, who came down the steps, looking worried.

"What is it?" He seemed worried, but sighed with releif when he saw The Doctor awake.

"He needs painkillers" Jack explained.

Owen rolled his eyes. "I really should show you how to do it yourself" he grumbled, and set up The Doctor's next dose of painkillers. He put it into the syringe expertly, and gently injected it into The Doctor.

"That better?" Jack took his other hand and stroked it. The Doctor nodded and yawned. "Night, Doctor" Jack kissed his hand and let The Doctor fall asleep. He looked up at Owen. "I am so grateful to you, you know that? He means the world to me."

"I know, that's why we tried. He's geting stronger every day."

"It's good having him back." Jack smiled, and together they walked up into the hub.

Jack sat at the head of the briefing table, a worried look on his face. A few quiet weeks had passed since The Doctor's surgery, and The Doctor had made an amazing recovery. He was still week, but was now able to walk and talk and function without problems, and just needed regular painkillers and dressing changes on the inscision cut, which was healing well, but slowly.

"What do we do?" Gwen sat, hands cupped around a mug of coffee, a long cold chinese takeaway sat in the middle of the table. "We can't just sit here and do nothing! People are dying out there!"

"I don't know, and you're right, Gwen. We need to do something! This is serious, how many now?" Ianto answered, and looked to Tosh for information.

Tosh checked her handheld device. "Hundreds! The hospital's inundated, people are dropping all over the city!" She checked the rest of the UK. "It hasn't reached England or Scotland yet, but its moving towards the border."

"Shit!" Owen looked over her shoulder at the red dots filling the screen. "Is that rift activity?"

"Looks like it" Tosh looked up at Jack. "That mean's whatever GUILT is, its coming through the rift."

"And it's easilly transferred from person to person, like a flu virus." Said Martha, who had been quiet until this point, "that means its gone airborne"

"This could become a full blown epidemic!" Owen began pacing. "We can't cure everyone, we only have one singularity scalpel, and even if we had more, we can't protect ourselves!"

"And you all saw the damage it did to me" The Doctor added. "This could be worse than…well everything put together. I can see the media picking up on this and using it to scaremonger. But Owen's right, there isn't really a way to protect everyone."

"We can try, everyone needs to split up, Ianto, contact parliament and let them know we're onto this but we'll need all the help we can get, then tell the media not to spread fear, just tell them to warn the people to stay indoors, this is a potential epidemic we're dealing with" Jack had finally clicked into action mode, and felt better now he was getting things into order. Ianto nodded and rushed down to his workstation. "Owen, Martha can you work out a repellent or an antidote quickly, if we try to find the key components?"

"We can try" Mathta nodded, and together the two doctors ran down towards the medical area. Jack nodded.

"Ianto, go and get the SUV ready, Tosh, get as much information as possible, contact all holspitals and tell them to put anyone showing symptoms into isolation and be careful."

"We can use the TARDIS to do a mass connection" The Doctor offered.

"We'll do that then" Tosh agreed.

"Lets go!" The Doctor made for the door and Tosh looked back.

"I'll look after him." She seemed to know Jack's thoughts Jack rushed out of the briefing room and ran down to the medical area, where Martha and Owen were frantically setting up what looked like a mad alchemist's crazy experiment. Owen produced a bunsen burner and bottle of gas from a draw and hurriedly set it up.

"Owen, try making a vaccine. Do you have the GUILT sample you took?"

"Yes, just a little bit though. Not enough to make more than one."

"Infect me with it. Let it multiply and take samples from that."

"Jack, you can't"

"we have no other choice, I can't let people die like that." Jack sighed. "I killed enoigh people already" He said softly. Martha heard, and gave him a sympathetic look; she knew about Jack's violent past as a Time Agent.

"Owen, he's right. It will help" Martha sighed. "Not that I really want to do it but…" She trailed off.

"Its just, The Doctor will kill me if I hurt him" Owen smiled. "He loves you, you know"

"I know" Jack sat down and rolled up his sleeve. "I'm ready, Owen. Just do it already."

Owen sighed and began setting up the injection whilst Martha tok over whatever he had been doing with the bunsen. It seemed to be part of a distilling process and Jack watched with interest. "Jack, you sure you want to do this?" He held the injection in his hand, ready for use.

"Yeah, now do it, quickly."

"Okay" with shaking fingers, Owen lined the syringe needle up with Jack's vein. He called over to Martha. "We're gonna need some syringes, to get the parasite out."

Working quickly, Martha set up several blood syringes, the kind used in blood tests and rished them over. Standing ready, she took up Jack's other arm and lined up the needle. Owen counted slowly to three, and then quickly injected Jack, who flinched a little and sat tense, waiting for the pain to come.


	17. Chapter 17

Suddenly, cramps shot through Jack, making him wrythe on the bench, emmiting low pitched whines. The familiar burning sensation hit him, and he tasted blood in his mouth. The pain was becoming unbearable after about five minutes, and Jack's vision started to fade, and sounds became muffled and echoed as Jack was becoming rapidly unconscious.

"Oh, god! It's awful!" Martha exclaimed as she quickly took syrnges filled with blood from Jack. "This is going to be hard to deal with" Expertly, she swapped the full syringe for an empty one and took more blood from Jack's arm. The blood was thickening now, as small clots were forming in the damaged arteries, their way blocked by wither a parasite or a cave in. Jack gave a gargling moan and coughed up blood, an object flew out of his mouth and skittered across the floor. Jack fell silent and stopped moving. Slowly, Owen and Martha put the syringes down.

"It's ok, he'll revive in a few minutes." Owen picked up a kidney dish from the side and started loading the syringes into it. Martha crouched down and inspected the creature on the floor. It was small, about the size of an egg and lay on it's back, legs waving helplessly in the air.

"What in the name of everything holy Is _that_?" She reached out to touch it.

"Don't touch it!" Owen quickly snapped on a pair of surgical gloves and picked the creature up. Plopping it into another kidney dish he explained; "This is a fully grown GUILT parasite. See that liquid it's prodicing? That's what kills people. It contains the eggs, the single cell organisms that, once inside the host begin to split and become the lavae, which cause all the damage to the organs. Eventually a single adult is formed and once the host is dead, which is surprisingly quickly, and the adult will burrow out. In jack's case it was formed in the lungs, so he was able to cough it up." Taking a scalpel from a drawer, he flipped it onto its feet, where it scuttled round the dish, it's feet making a low pitched tinkling as the hit the side of the dish. "We saw it before, when Jack infected himself the first time. Owen put down the scalpel and turned to Matrtha, who was watching the creature with interest, a pursed look of contemplation upon her face. "Isuppose in a serious case, more form inside the body and burrow out, but we havn't been able to tell for sure, but it could be the cause of some of The Doctor's internal injuries. I guess the adult can just reproduce through fast asexual reproduction, but I can investigate further later." Owen pushed the dish containing the GUILT parasite to the back of the worktop and picked up a syringe. Holding it out to Martha, he pointed to the moving mass within it. "Look, see that's a new adult forming. It will die soon, because the blood is cooling. We found out it needs temperatires more than 36 degrees."

"That is disgusting" Martha wrinkled her nose. "but very intriguingly clever, but why did he infect himself? Did he not realise how dangerous that is?"

"We really thought we were losing The Doctor, Martha. We thought it was the end. Jack got desperate, we all did. Jack is pretty much indestructable, you of all people should know that."

Suddenly, Jack took a huge gasp and sat up, Martha looked towards him, a look of sympathy on her face. She loved the captain, she didn't know anyone who wouldn't love his bravado attitude, and felt a pang of sadness for what he'd been through. "Jack! You're back!"

"I always come back." Jack sighed and sat cross legged, head resting in his hands, propped up on his knees. "Somethimes I wish I didn't, but what good is wishing, it doesn't change the present."

Martha felt another pang of sadness for Jack, he was half the confident, in control captain she had worked with before. "Oh, Jack" She put her arm round him and helped him to his feet.

At that moment, The Doctor came bursting into the hub, followed by Ianto, Gwen and Tosh. "Jack!" he ran down the steps and threw himself into Jack's arms. "Jack, we managed to get hold of the millitary, and the parliament. The army have deployed soldiers to try to control this at once, and the parliament is warning everyone to stay inside at all times and if anyone they know who is showing symtoms of GUILT must be put into isolaton immediately."

"Good work!" Jack ruffled The Doctor's hair and smiled.

"It wasn't all me!" The Doctor seemed so full of energy Jack found it hard to believe that a few short weeks ago he was on the brink of death. "Tosh helped and Ianto too."

"Jack, we found a body out on the bay. It looked infected, we'd better get moving." Ianto sat down on the medical bench and looked over at Owen and Martha, who had begun to work out a way to create a vaccine or antidote.

Jack clicked into acton. "Right. Martha, Owen, get working on that vaccine. I'm going up to the bay. The rest of you stay in the hub until we have an antidote or a vaccine, I'm not risking losing any of you, not today." Jack turned and jogged up the steps. He turned back at the top. "Be careful" he said it softly, and it was more to The Doctor than anyone else. With that, he left for the bay.

The bay was dark, and cold. An icy breeze blew through the dealthy silence that hung over it. A carelessly discarded beer can rolled in the breeze. Jack noticed that the lights that usually lit the area had gone out, and the onlt light was from the full moon that glowed brightly in the sky. Pulling his coat tighter around himself, Jack stepped closer towards the silent, unmoving shape that was sprawled on the concrete just a few steps away from the TARDIS. Jack squatted down next to it and gently rolled it over. A stark, pale face stared up at him with blank, dead eyes. A trickle of blood still oozed from the nose and blood stained the chin and was on the floor in sticky crimson puddles. Jack could sense death in the air and it kept catching his breath. This was what he looked like after GUILT got him, he realised, and put his hands to his face. Trying to keep his breathing regular, he surveyed the body, looking for possible entry points, and noticed an open pizza box a few feet away. He tore himself away from the dead man and investigated the pizza. It had stayed upright and in the box . It was missing one piece, which lay an few inches from the man's cold, dead hands, and only had a few bites taken from it. Jack lifted the box to eye level and inspected it in the dark. He noticed a slight sheen that could be grease, but he had a feeling that something was fishy about the pizza, and it wasn't the anchovies. He looked across the hub to the pizzeria. He could see it, but it was slightly obscured by the TARDIS. But the TARDIS was invisible to everyone exept those who knew it was there; it was on the invisible lift spot. So how come nobody in the pizzeria or any of the other shops could see him? Jack looked from the body to the TARDIS to the shops, trying to piece it together, and then it hit him. The TARDIS had sensed the dying man nearby and extended its reach to try to protect him. Jack looked up at the great ship and put his hand against the smooth blue wood. It shuddered under his palm. "Oh…TARDIS" he breathed. The TARDIS gave another shudder and Jack realised it was talking to him, saying sorry that it couldn't save the man. "It's okay" Jack swallowed the lump in his throat. "It's okay. I'm going to move him, alright?" Jack felt silly talking to the TARDIS, but he had a feeling it could understand him. The wood shuddered again and Jack removed his hand from the panel. Slowly, Jack picked up the body and carried it towards the water tower. He set the body down in a sitting position, slumped against the wall. Suddenly, his phone began to ring. Jack fished it out of his pocket and checked the caller ID; The LED display read 'MUM'. Jack gulped back another lump and put the phone back in the pocket and let it ring. The police would deal with telling the news, it wasn't his place to answer a dead man's phone and explain to his mother that he is deceased. It wasn't right. Jack turned away and walked quickly back towards the TARDIS. The pizza still lay there, long cold. he picked it up and looked back at the body. He shuddered and went back down to the hub.


	18. Chapter 18

*AUTHORS NOTE* sorry I havn't uploaded in a while, it's been a busy week and I just havn't had the time. Also I'm sorry its so shortm I promise I'll make it up in the next chapter. I hope you'll forgive me. Thanks, enjoy J

When Jack walked in, the team and The Doctor were in a heated discussion. Jack stepped up to the group and put the pizza box on the table.

"Jack, now is no time for pizza!" Owen reached for the box and flipped the lid open.

"Owen, it's evidence. Don't touch it, I have a dodgy feeling about it" Jack sighed. "The body…it looked…its hard to explain." Jack leant on the medical bench, eyes flicking from each member of the team to the next, lingering on The Doctor's renewed features the longest.

"Owen, could you run some tests on this?" Owen nodded and took the pizza to one side. "Don't eat it under any circumstances."

"Why would I do that?"

"Don't know, cause it's pizza?" Jack turned to the others. "It looks pretty bad from what I can see, it's deserted up there but it's" Jack checked his watch. "almost 6am, it should be rush hour right now."

"that's not a good sign then" The Doctor mused. "that's really not a good sign."

"Jack…look at this" Owen turned, holding a tiny vial of yellowish liquid in one hand and a PH indicator in the other. The indicator was red, signalling a very strong acid. Jack stepped closer to Owen and took the vial.

"Doctor, could you scan this?"

"If I had a sonic I would" The Doctor sighed and stood up. "The TARDIS could tell us exactly what it is though"

"Let's go then"

"But im not sure going outside is a good idea."

"We can't just sit here and do nothing!" Gwen, who had been quiet up to now, spoke up. "People are dying out there, from an alien disesase. Emphasis on the word _alien_"

"She has a point" The Doctor got up. "Hand me that vial, Owen, I'll take it up to the TARDIS." Owen hesitated and looked over at Jack. Jack nodded and Owen handed it over.

"Don't leave the hub." Jack looked at each member of his team before following the doctor out of the hub.

The bay was eerily deserted. Another slumped body lay in the centre of the asphalt. The Doctor and jack tried not to breathe too much and sprinted across to the TARDIS. Once inside, Jack rushed towards the central control, the doctor in tow.

"The TARDIS has changed" The Doctor mused.

"We don't have time to discuss that now. Come on, we need to work fast to find a cure."

"Okay, sorry." The Doctor popped open a small capsule and put the vial in. As If in response, the TARDIS gave a slight shudder. The screen flashed up and as The Doctor pulled it round so they could see it better, showed an image similar to what Jack had seen those long weeks ago when they were trying to save The Doctor's life.

"I've seen that before" Jack squinted at the screen. "this one looks different" and he was right. The almost blueprint like image of the creature was similar to the one they had discovered from The Doctor in almost every way, apart from it didn't have those huge stag beetle like jaws. Instead, it had a sleek, pointed head and it's back end tapered to the same shape.

"It's evolved" The Doctor mused. "But its definantly GUILT"

"How did the TARDIS find it?"

"I don't know. I vaguely remember being taught about the GUILT parasite at the academy" The Doctor paused and fell silent for a minute, before resuming the explanation. "im guessing it was backed up on the system and this sample prompted the TARDIS to almost 'remember' it"

"But its definantly GUILT?"

"Definantly"

"What do we do now?" Jack shifted his weight. "How can we stop it spreading?"

The Doctor sighed. "I don't know, Jack." He looked at the floor. "I haven't been faced with this type of thing before." He looked back up at Jack. "people are dying, Gwen was right. We can't just do nothing because we don't know _how_ to do anything. We can try."

"We can do more research. What else does the TARDIS say?" Jack looked back up towards the screen. The Doctor studied it and sighed.

"It has a complicated genetic structure, but we could work with the secretion it makes to try to create a vaccine. But that's only half the problem, its getting it out there in time to save enough people."


	19. Chapter 19

Jack and The Doctor re entered the hub to an unnerving quiet. Owen and Martha were busy in the medical area trying to work with some more of the secretion, Tosh was trying to find any other information on how they could combat GUILT and also keeping contact maintained with the government, updating them hourly with their progress. Ianto was nowhere to be seen, most likely in the kitchen area, making more coffee to keep them all alert. Jack looked at The Doctor and The Doctor looked back. Together they walked down into the main hub.

"What's happening with this?" Jack gestured round the quiet hub. "Why is it so quiet?"

"Jack! Jack come and look at this!" Martha called from the medical area and Jack jogged over to them to see what they had. Owen had seperated the secretion they had collected from the pizza into two small test tubes. They looked the same, except one of them was fizzing slightly.

"What is it?" The Doctor spoke behind Jack and was frowning at the test tubes.

"We added an alkalai to this one, and its been neutrallised. We think maybe that's killed off the GUILT as it needs highly acidic conditions to multiply and grow" Owen took the tube and held it out to The Doctor, who took it and frowned some more.

"That could work, you know" He reached into the pocket of the ripped suit he was still wearng and brought out a very singed looking sonic screwdriver. He gently scanned the liquid and frowned at the reading it gave. "it's neutral. That's strange, its also slightly acidic…" He handed the tube back to Owen. "We need to test that a little bit, but it could work. We also need to speed things up a little and be aware of what's happening up there. We need to get the message out to everyone telling of the symptoms and that anyone displaying them needs to be immediately quarantined."

Jack sighed. "Thanks, Owen, Martha." He left the medical area and made his way over to Tosh. "Tosh, send out the message that the border needs to be shut down, nobody into Wales, nobody out. We need to keep this as contained as possible."

"Okay, Jack. I'll do it now. It won't go down easy though, from what I'm readng the borders full of people trying to flee the counrty"

"We need to stop that, we can't risk this getting out, it will kill off everybody and we don't have a cure yet."

Tosh nodded, turned back towards her wall of monitors and started typing busilly. After a few moments, she began speaking into the microphone. Jack and The Doctor moved away and Jack plopped himself down on the tatty sofa. "I don't know what else to do, Doctor!" he rested his head in his hands and sighed.

"how did you save me?" The Doctor put his arm around Jack. "Tell me, how did you do it?"

"Singularity Scalpel, I thought I told you."

"No…well I don't remember it."

"Well then I probably didn't and im just going senile!"

The Doctor smiled. "Hey, I'm the one who's supposed to go senile!"

Jack smiled back and The Doctor smiled some more. "There we go, there's that beautiful smile of yours!"

"Well that's one thing that hasn't changed about you, you still have a smile that could dazzle a weevil"

"well to be fair anything dazzles a weevil"

"true, true. Okay I'll reword that; you still have a smile that dazzles _me_. That better?"

"Aw, Jack!" The Doctor pulled Jack into a side hug. "You do make me smile. Makes me wonder why I havn't visited you more. I forgot how much this place feels like home to me, which is a little bit weird because Torchwood was set up against me." The Doctor sighed and his smile dropped. "But in all seriousness how are we going to stop this?"

but before Jack could answer his question, Tosh called over, "Jack! Jack, come here! Look!"

"What is it, Tosh?" Jack jogged over and stood behind Tosh, Doctor close behind.

"I'm picking up an unknown ship in out atmosphere. It's big and it's definantly not the military, it's at too high an altitude."

"Oh bloody hell, that's all we need!" Jack sighed. "Ask them what they want and if possible to leave our airspace, they're freaking out the locals." Jack shook his head and sighed as Tosh tapped away on her keyboard. She paused and gasped.

"Jack, we've got a reply!"

Jack turned and squinted at the obscure looking squiggles on the screen. "What language is _that_?"

"Not sure, give me a second" Tosh opened a drawer and rimmaged in it. After a few seconds, she brought out a battered piece of technology and out it against the screen. Jack instantly recognised it as the device they had used to decipher ehat the possesed Owen was saying after they had brought him back. He took a sideways glance towards the medical area at him. "Come on, come on" Tosh was still holding the device to the screen. After a few more tense moments, the squggles began to arrange themselves into english. Jack read them out loud.

"within a few hours your race will be dead. This ship is filled with our race. Our planet has been destroyed and your planet is perfect for us to construct a new home. Your Torchwood is no match for us." Jack leant on the back of Tosh's chair and sighed.

"What do we do now?" He looked up and his eyes flicked from Tosh's to The Doctor's and back again. "What do we do now?"

Tosh was the first to speak. "Well we need to get the antidote made, and fast. Next we need to distribute it to as many people as possible."

The Doctor smiled. "she's still the clever one!"

"Thank you, Doctor" Tosh blushed under the praise.

"it's no problem" The Doctor smiled again. Tosh tapped at the keyboard and a map of wales popped up, dotted with red and yellow, and divided into different districts, each one colour coded.

"What's that?" The Doctor leaned closer, squinting at the screen.

"UNIT sent it to me, they're working with the millitary and us to try to stop this. The red areas are where it's worst. The amber ones are where they're mildly affected and the green is where it's only in it's beginning stages. The white zones are where they haven't been affected yet"

"So we can see where the antidote is needed the most" Jack tapped the area marked CARDIFF. "looks like we're slap bang in the middle of a hotzone."

"Tosh, have you got a map of England aswell?" The Doctor leant towards the monitors as Tosh flipped the screen to a bigger map showing England and Scotland. The zones along the border were coloured orange. "It's spreading. Is this real time?"

"Yeah, UNIT have managerd to put a tag on it, and have hospitals reporting cases to the millitary.

"I see. We need to get on top of this, I can't let them die."

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Jack spoke. "Where's Gwen?"

Everyone looked at eachother, then Tosh spoke. "She went to get Rhys. She was worried about him. She said she was going to be careful, you weren't here and I tried to stop her but she just left. Oh my God I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay. I'll go. I can survive this. All of you stay in the hub. I'm not risking losing any of you, not now." Jack turned and ran for the door.

"Jack!" The Doctor called. Jack stopped in the doorway and locked eyes with the timelord. A moment of silence seemed to stretch on forever between them, and then he spoke. "I love you" he said it softly, and with a slight smile. Then the smile dropped and he was serious again. "Now go!" Jack took one last look at The Doctor, standing by Tosh in his ripped and tattered, yet familiar coat and suit. The crooked tie round his neck made him look like a schoolboy and Jack had to surpress a laugh. He nodded and disapeared behind the door as it clicked itself into place with the usual grinding of cogs and sirens.

The Bay was even more deserted, and an eerie wind whistled through it in the early dawn light. Jack shivered and rushed over to the SUV and jumped in. Starting the engine he called Gwens mobile. No answer. Jack hung up and tried her landline. No answer. He swore and sped off in the direction of Gwen's flat, hoping he wasn't too late.


	20. Chapter 20

Jack ran into Gwen's flat, leaving the door swinging on its hinges as he raced through to the main living room. He looked around for a few moments, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness in the room. Then he saw her. She was sprawled across the floor and a few feet away was Rhys. He was lying face up, eyes glassy and vacant as they stared starkly up at the ceiling. Jack slowly crept closer and gently closed Rys' eyes. Moving on, he rolled Gwen over. She groaned softly and a trickle of blood dribbled down her chin.

"Gwen? Gwen can you hear me?"

"Jack?" it was barely a whisper. "Oh god jack, I'm so sorry"

"Shhh, hold on Gwen, hold on please!" Jack positioned himself so that he was blocking the view of Rhys' body. He lifted Gwen into his arms and ran out of the flat and into the SUV. "Hold on, you can do it" he hastily belted her in and jumped into the driving seat. Closing the door he revved up the engine and raced back towards the hub, praying he wasn't too late to save her.

The hub doors opened wth their familiar sirens and grinding of cogs and Jack ran through, Gwen limp and floppy in his arms.

"Jack! What happened?" Tosh stood up and rushed over, helping to support her head. As they rushed down into the medical area Owen and Martha snapped into action. Martha immediately began taking her pulse and checking her breathing whilst Owen hurriedly began setting up an IV line.

"I…I found her like this. Rhys is already gone." Jack tried to keep back his tears. He felt as if he'd failed. To him the team was family. "We need to save her." He looked down at Gwen's pale face, willing her to survive.

"She's only just breathing, we're going to need to bag her" Martha called back to Owen, who nodded and reached into a cupboard, reapearing with a breathing assistor. Martha grabbed it and began using it to assist Gwen's breathing. Owen brought out a heart monitor and becan quickly attaching the electrodes and plugging it in. A weak hearbeat was shown on the screen.

"Come on, Gwen" Jack took over from Owen and stood, gently pumping air into Gwen's lungs. Jack looked around. "Where's The Doctor?"

As id in answer to his question, The Doctor came running in through the open door, just making it through as the heavy cog rolled back into position. He sprinted across when he saw Gwen. "Gwen!" He yelled and jumped the stairs, skidding to a halt by the bench. He reached into his pocket and scanned her body with the Sonic Screwdriver. He took in a sharp intake of breath and looked up at Jack. "It's a stronger version of GUILT."

"We need the Singularuty Scalpel, Owen!"

"I'm on it!" Owen reached back and grabbed the bulky alien object off the side and tossed it across to Jack, who caught it onehanded. Looking at the scalpel brought forward the horrible visions of The Doctor lying dead and broken. Jack shook them away and looked across and The timelord, who was standing, still in his riped and tattered suit, staring at Gwen's unconscious body.

"Doctor, I need you to take over with this!" Jack moved aside ad The Doctor took over assisting Gwen's breathing. Jack stood back and switched the device on. After a couple of seconds, it started up and Jack leveled it up. The screen showed, just as it had done with The Doctor, an outline of Gwen's body filled with thousands of moving objects. Looking away, Jack hit the button and Gwen gave a great shudder before lying still. There was a moment of silence and it seemet to jack as if everything had gone into slow motion, and then suddenly time sped back up again. The heart monitor's steady beeping had sped up and Owen was working furiously to find the drug which would slow it back down again. Jack threw the scalpel to the floor and ran forward, lifting Gwen into his arms. "Come on, Gwen! Come on! I won't let you do this!" Jack moved his hand up to the jugular, and felt for a pulse. He found none, and Gwen had gone completely limp. Jack looked up at the rest of the team, his vision blurred by the tears streaming down his cheeks. "She's gone" he whispered it. "Shes…gone." Jack slowly got up and laid Gwen's body back on the medical bench. He turned and The Doctor caught him in his arms. They stood still for a minute, and Jack began to sob against The Doctor.

Owen looked away from the scene and down at Gwen's face. She looked peaceful, alseep almost. For a moment he felt a pang of jealousy, but then the sadness over came him as he thought about the darkness death had pulled him into. "Oh, Gwen. I'm so sorry." He reached down and brushed a stray lock of black hair away from her face.

"Hey, it's not your fault" Martha came up behind him and put an arm around the dead medic. Owen looked round at her tearstained face.

"I know. But its just…the thought of her in the darkness like that. All alone. We could have stopped it."

"You know we couldn't."

"I'm just kidding myself. You save one life and suddenly there's thousands of them, all reaching out. All desperate to be saved." He looked again at Gwen. "This one I couldn't reach." He sighed and let Martha pull him into a quick hug. Owen sighed as Martha broke the hug. "We need to call it."

"I'll do it" Martha gave Owen's hand a quick squeeze and stepped forwards. "Time, 7:09 am. Monday 18th October, 2010. Death of Gwen Cooper." She took the blanket Owen had grabbed from the cupboard and gently draped it over Gwen's body. "Rest in peace" She turned back and a sob erupted from her chest. Owen rushed forwards and pulled her into a hug.

At that moment, Ianto came running in through the doors, panic stricken. "Jack! JACK!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs. "it's got worse! There are creatures out there!" He skidded to a halt and Jack could see bites covering his face and hands. He looked deep into Jack's eyes. "We need to stop them!" Ianto took a stumble backwards and collapsed to the floor with a muffled thud.


	21. Chapter 21

*AUTHORS NOTE* sorry the previous chapter was also very short. I feel bad about that because I promised I'd make up for it L but hey here is another chapter so enjoy J ps I hope this made up for the two short ones and the long gap between uploads

Jack knelt down by Ianto and lifted his head into his arms. "Ianto? Ianto, come on! Not you aswell!" He looked back at Owen who was rushing forwards to help, the doctor following behind. Ianto opened his eyes and looked up into Jack's. They were filled with fear and Ianto gave a shudder. "Jack" He whispered. "Jack I can't…I can't" he gave another shudder, "they've changed, Jack. The Guilt, its worse!" He coughed and blood stained his lips. He took in a shuddering, shallow breath and his eyes closed.

"Ianto! No, Ianto you're not leaving me!" Jack found his vision blurred by tears and he pulled Ianto's body further up into his arms. Cradling it he looked up at the four people surrounding him, desperate for help. Martha knelt on the other side and put her hand to Ianto's neck. After a minute she looked up at Jack.

"He's alive, but only just." Jack knew what she was going to say by the look on her face.

"No! I'm not letting him go!" Jack looked down at the dying face of the member of the team he loved the most. "I can't."

The Doctor knelt down and put a hand on Jack's shoulder. "Jack, take him to the TARDIS. We can make him more comfortable there" He turned to Owen. "get that sample of GUILT we took and bring it with us. Owen nodded and ran down to the medical area to get it whilst Jack heaved Ianto into his arms to carry him out to the TARDIS. The Doctor took Tosh by the hand and led the team up and out. By the door that led out onto the bay, he stopped to address them. "we're going to have to run across. I'm not sure but I have a feeling GUILT is still in the air. Try not to breathe it in." The Doctor scanned the group, and nodded as he turned and ran out into the bay.

It would have been pretty if it was a normal day. The sun shone high in the clear blue sky, glittering off the frost which had settled overnight. But It also reflected off the backs of small, beetle like creatures which crawled across the asphalt and between the few bodies which had been infected. Tosh and Martha clapped their hands over their mouths and Owen retched at the smell which met their noses. On The Doctor's command they ran to the TARDIS and, disturbed by the movement, the beetle creatures began to head in their direction. As the team covered ground, so did the creatures. They began to swarm towards them, the clicking of their feet on the frosty ground echoed in the deathly silence which hang over the place, along with the footsteps of the team.

The Doctor slammed shut the TARDIS door seconds before the creature swarm reached the ship and stood panting whilst he did a quick headcount. Owen sat on the floor, trying to help Martha save Ianto. "Bloody hell! What the fucking hell were they?"

The Doctor sighed and looked quickly at Ianto's unconscious body. "Mutated GUILT creatures. This isn't good."

"You don't say" Owen sighed and concentrated back on saving Ianto.

"Doctor, what do we do?" Tosh was sitting on the bottom step of one of the staircases, cradling one hand in the other.

"I don't know, Toshiko. If I did I would have stopped this by now." He walked over and sat next to her. Tosh rested her head against his shoulder.

"Will Ianto…" She couldn't finish her sentence as her voce caught in her throat.

"Die? I don't know. It looks that way. I was hoping the TARDIS would kick in to help but she must be weak from the regeneration." The Doctor sighed. "I can't even do anything to help, just sit here." He looked around and suddenly realised someone was missing. "Where's Jack?"

"He went to the library I think."

"Okay. I'll go and find him. Hold the fort until I get back"

"Okay"

The Doctor got up and jogged up the stairs. Jack was in the library as Tosh had said. He was sitting in the middle, a neat pile of books at his side and one in his lap, which he was furiously flicking through. The Doctor moved closer and knelt by his turned back. "Jack?"

Jack turned round and looked into The Doctors eyes, tears streaming down his cheeks. Without saying anything, The Doctor pulled him into a hug and let the captain sob into his shoulder, whilst gently rocking him and rubbing his back. After several minutes, Jack looked up again at The Doctor, who gently kissed his forehead. Jack yawned heavily and he Doctor sighed. "You're tired. Come on, get some rest." Reluctantly, Jack followed The Doctor to one of the bedrooms. Sitting on the bed, he sniffed, pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on them. The Doctor sat next to him and put his arm round him. Jack yawned again. The Doctor pulled back the thick duvet so that Jack could get into the bed. Jack slowly got to his feet and shrugged off his Jacket and slipped off his shoes.

"What about Ianto?" Jack sat up and pulled the duvet over himself.

"We're trying, Jack. I promise you we are."

"I know. I just can't loose him" Jack's voice caught in his throat. "I love him, Doctor."

"I know, Jack. And its tearing me apart seeing this happening to you. You need to rest now, you're exhausted." The Doctor gently pushed Jack down so his head rested on the pillows. Jack yawned and closed his eyes. The Doctor sighed and quietly left the room. Quickly, he made his way back to the main area.

"Doctor! Doctor quick, look!" Tosh was standing by the TARDIS door, looking out at the bay.

"Shut the door!" The Doctor rushed forwards to slam it shut, but stopped in his tracks at the view which greeted him. The Guilt creatures had stopped moving and they lay still, their bodies gleaming in the sun. Some moved feebly but soon gave up and just lay on the asphalt.

"What are they doing?" Tosh slowly shut the door and sat on the floor. The Doctor sat down next to her, a frown of thought on his face.

"They look like they're dying" The Doctor sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Dying?"

The Doctor nodded. "Thay ook like they are. I need to do a test but I can't risk bringing one in here. How's Ianto doing?"

Tosh sighed, "Owen's got his blood pressure back up and temperature back down to normal. He's still a bit touch and go but he's not as procarious as he was."

"Good medics, those to. There's a reason why I recommended Martha to UNIT. She had all the makings of a bloody good doctor but I new she could handle so much more." The Doctor smiled.

"She traveled with you?"

"For time, yes. I took her to the farthest galaxies, showed her distant planets but in the end she wanted her family."

"everybody needs their family once in a while I suppose."

"mmm, it can get lonely being by yourself all the time." The Doctor sighed and looked across at Ianto.

"So you've been alone up until now?"

"yep. Sometimes I like it like that. Some people used to call me the lonely angel."

"but you can get too lonely sometimes"

"yeah I suppose. I suppose I got used to it." Tosh yawned. The Doctor sighed. "Tired?" Tosh nodded.

"I have some spare bedrooms if you want a nap. You must be exhausted! You've been awake for at least 24 hours now."

"Is that okay?"

"Yes, yes. Come with me." The Doctor got up and led Tosh up the staircase and down the corridor. He stopped outside a door and opened it Tosh followed him inside, marvelling at the vast space the ship contained. "Here you go. You can rest in here. You remember the way we came?" Tosh nodded. "Good. If you need any of us, we'll be back in the main area. I'd better check on Jack."

Tosh sat down on the bed and smiled, "Thank you, Doctor"

"It's alright" The Doctor quetly left the room and closed the door behind him. Waslking back down the corridor, he stopped outside the bedroom Jack was sleeping in. he opened the door a crack and peeked into the darkened room.

Jack lay sprawled out on the bed, breathing deep and regular. Every so often he shifted and moaned a little. The Doctor sighed and quietly closed the door again. Walking back towards the main area, he heard a shout and broke into a run.

Ianto was still lying on the floor, Owen and Martha frantically trying to stabilise him. The Doctor ran towards them and knelt down by Ianto's side. "What's happening?" He looked into Ianto's face, which was contorted into an expression of agony.

"We don't know, he just suddenly deterioiated!" Martha shifted Ianto's head to keep his airways open. She looked acros at Owen. "go to the hub and get the paddles, the bag and the Singularuty Scalpel. Whilst you're at it get painkillers, and IV line and fluid bag." Owen nodded and bolted to the door, leaving it swinging behind him he ran across the hub and down through the door and tourist shack and down into the hub.

The hub was silent and Owen's footsteps echoes inside the vast space. Quickly, he ran into the medical area and began gathering up the equipment. As he was leaving back up to the bay, Gwen's body, still covered by a white sheet caught his eye. He stopped and stared at it for a while, looked at the items in his hand and sighed. His left hand went up to his chest, where the bullet wound that had killed him lay. He remembered the darkness and shuddered. "im so sorry, Gwen." He looked back up towards the door and resumed his sprint back towards the TARDIS, hoping that he wasn't too late to save Ianto, he wasn't going to let another member of the team die, not today.


	22. Chapter 22

The TARDIS was quiet when Jack returned. Martha was sitting quietly by Ianto, looking completely drained. There was a faint smell of sick. Martha looked up, put a finger to her lips and pointed at the sleeping Doctor at the foot of the stairs. Owen quietly shut the door and tip-toed across the room to Ianto.

"How is he?" Owen whispered, setting down what he had taken from the hub on the floor.

"He seems to have stabillised again. He was sick aswell ad now his temperature's down. His breathing seems to be easing up a little but he seems to be yo-yoing from stable to critical."

"I've never seen anything like it" Owen sighed. "you look exhausted, get some sleep. Martha smiled her thanks and got up. Quietly, and trying not to wake the sleeping doctor, she left the main area. Owen looked back down at Ianto and sighed. It was going to be a long day.

Jack groggily sat up in bed and immediately thought of Ianto. Quickly, he got up and put his coat on. Padding barefoot, he made his way out of the room and down towards the main area, where he could hear the distant murmur of conversation drifting up the corridor. He checked his watch. He had been asleep for three hours. that wasn't enough to keep him going but he didn't care. All he wanted to know was whether Ianto had pulled through. He took the steps three at a time, and only noticed the sleeping body of The Doctor halfway down. He stopped and took off his coat. Gently, he draped it over him and nodded to Owen, who was sitting crosslegged next to Ianto and talking to Tosh in a murmured voice. Tosh looked up at Jack, smiled and patted the ground next to her. Jack sat down and looked at Ianto and then up at Owen. "How's he been?"

"Okay. He hasn't woken since about an hour ago. Martha says he was sick."

"That's better than being on the brink of death." Jack mused and then nodded towards The Doctor. "how long's he been asleep?"

"Not long, he was asleep when I came back from The Hub so im guessing about an hour and a half."

"He's so cute when he's asleep" Jack sighed and then blushed as he felt both Tosh and Owen's eyes turn on him. He looked at them and smiled. "What? He is!"

"Jack and The Doctor, sitting in a tree…" Owen sang as quietly as he could.

Jack blushed some more. "Stop it, you'll wake him!"

"Wake who?" The Doctor raised his head from his sleep and sat up. He looked down at Jack's coat covering him and then across to where Owen, Jack and Tosh were sitting and smiled. "Morning…well…actually it's the afternoon now" He stood up, stretched, yawned and walked over to them. "How's Ianto?"

"He's doing alright."

"good" The Doctor looked around. "Where's Martha?"

"she went to rest."

"oh ok. How long was I asleep?"

"about an hour and a half"

"ok. Have I missed anything?"

"no, not really" Owen smirked. Jack shot him a look and it immediately disapeared. Thankfully, The Doctor was looking at the monitor on the central console.

"Doctor, what is it?" Jack got to his feet and walked over to where The Doctor was standing. Tosh followed.

"I don't know. It's the TARDIS, it's picking up the presence of another ship."

"Like at the hub?"

"I think it's the same ship, yes."

"who are they?"

"I don't know. He paused. Wait…yes! I thought so! It's the Tauronians! By Rassilon, I thought they died out millenia ago!" The Doctor sighed. The monitor gave a little bleep noise and The Doctor looked back at it. "We've got a connection!" He tapped the side of the monitor and squinted at it. "hello? Hello? Anyone there?" The monitor just replied with static. The Doctor sighed.

"What's it doing?" Tosh nervously took a step towards the monitor. "it's like it's trying to connect."

"it is connected, but there's interference. Im guessing they don't want to talk to us."

"Who are the Tauronians?"

"An acient race, older than the Timelords. They're a warrior race of taurus-humanoid hybrids. Very clever creatures. Diffucult to argue with, when they want something they stop at nothing to get it, and think nothing of creatures they deem lesser than themselves." He paused and twiddled a dial on the side of the console, looking at the screen. "Nope, nothing. They don't want anything to do with us. That or they think we're dead or dying and sending out an SOS message."

"What are you going to do then?"

"Go to them!" The Doctor ran to the other side of the control column and pressed a few buttons. Rushing back round to the other side, he pulled a lever and pressed some more buttons. With an immense groan and the clanking of machinery, the TARDIS powered up and the great central column began to move. The TARDIS gave a shudder and lurched into motion.

"Doctor! What are you doing?" Jack shouted above the creaking and the background noise of the TARDIS' machinery working. "The TARDIS isn't ready to fly yet!"

"Of course it is! She's good as new!" He paused and looked up at Jack, a look of manic joy on his face mixed with fear in his eyes. "And in answer to your question, we're Going to face the cowards of course!" The Doctor shouted back and laughed.

After a few minutes of shaking and rattling, The TARDIS gave a shudder and landed with a thud that sent them to the floor. The Doctor, still grinning, picked himself up and dusted himself down. He strode to the door and went to open it.

"Doctor! What happened?" Martha came running down the steps, barefoot and hair in a tangle, sleep still in the corners of her eyes.

"we got company!" The Doctor smiled. "Well, more like we provided company."

"What do you mean? We moved. Where are we?"

"On board a ship. The cowards don't want to talk to us, so we've come to talk face to face." He opened the door and stepped out into a tall, wide room with dark polished floors and bright white walls all around. "Well, that wasn't too bad for the first flight. All in one piece. That's good." The Doctor gave the blue wood an affectionate pat. The others filed out and stood together. A vast widow on one side of the room showed Earth far below, a multicoloured gem in the blackness ofit was surrounded by, studded with the glowing lights of the stars and the galaxies they made up.

"Wow" Tosh breathed in awe at the view. "Now that's a view to die for!"

"How well picked a comment!" a voice boomed down the long room. Everyone's head turned towards the figure standing in an open doorway. It was tall, and had horns rising magestically from his head. The bottom half of its body was carried on four legs which were thick and muscular and had wide cloven hooves. He strode forwards, his hoofsteps were surprisingly silent on the polished floor. He carried himself with grace and came to a slow, heavy stop a few feet away from the group, a look of distain on his face. "And so the warriors arrive. I was wondering how long that would take. It seems you Timelords are still hot headed."

The Doctor took in a sharp intake of breath. "I'm the last of them. The others all died. In the Time War. Remember?"

"Ah, yes. The Death of an entire species is such a sad thing. Your loneliness is an even sadder thing, being so alone"

"I'm not alone, though. I have my friends." The Doctor looked back at the rest of the group and flashed them a smile, but Jack saw through it and saw the anger burning in his eyes, hot and bright like a new star, just waiting to burst into life. He looked back at The Tauronian, the anger starting to seep into his voice. "Remove the GUILT, reverse the damage."

"Oh yes, GUILT. I see you survived it. The humans, not so much. You've got one fighting it in that ship of yours, yes? Yes, I can sense him. Death is near. His suffering will end soon."

"He wouldn't be suffering if it wasn't for you! You infected The Doctor! You wanted him to die!" Jack stepped forwards and The Doctor restrained him with a hand on his arm. The Tauronian smiled.

"Why are you doing this?" The Doctor's voice was soft, But Jack could hear an undertone of anger in his voice.

The Tauronian sighed. "We need a new home. Our own planet has been destroyed. We can't survive for much longer."

"But Earth isn't yours to take!" The Doctor's anger exploded from him in a shout, which seemed to physically hit The Tauronian, who backed up a few paces, a look of shock on his face, which gradually faded back to the neutral mask.

"Ah, the fury of a Timelord. Such a powerful weapon." He came back closer and knelt so that he was on eye level with The Doctor. "The TARDIS wasn't yours to take either, was it?"

"But that's different! Earth is already taken, reverse what you've done. You know what I can do if I have to."

"Yes, I heard the stories, of The Doctor and his little blue box."

"Were you scared? Is that why you tried to kill him?" Jack stepped forwards and put a hand on The Doctor's back.

The Turonian said nothing, and turned his back to them and started walking away back towards the door. "Over his shoulder, he called, "Get out of my ship!" and disapeared through the sliding doors. The Team looked at eachother. After a few minutes, Tosh spoke up.

"What do we do now?"


	23. Chapter 23

"I thought I told you to GET OUT!" The Tauronian returned several minutes later, brandishing a glowing bow and arrow. Immediately Jack positioned himself in front of the others, anticipacing The Tauronian's next move. He came to a slow, imposing halt a few feet away, in exactly the same way as he had done before. He looked at Jack, and then the rest of the group huddled behind him, and The Doctor, who was gripping Jack's shoulder, a look of anger and apprehension on his face.

"you don't have to do this" He whispered to Jack, but The Tauronian heard and smiled.

"Oh, but I do" He backed up a few paces and levelled the bow. He looked at Jack. "you're unwanted guests who have rather outstayed your welcome. Hopefully this will promt you out." With a sickening half smile on his face, he sent an arrow flying towards Jack's heart. It struck right on target and sent Jack to his knees, caught by The Doctor, who gently lowered him to the floor. Jack looked at the arrow and at The Tauronian and back at the arrow again. With a pale and clammy hand, he gripped the shaft, but before he could pull it out, the light left his eyes and he fell silent. The Doctor ran a hand through Jack's hair and sighed.

"I'm so sorry, Jack." He stood up and eyeballed The Tauronian, who had lowered the bow with a smug smirk on his face. "What are you smiling for? You havn't seen Jack's little party trick yet."

As if on que, a loud gasp, followed by a splutter came from behind and Jack heaved himself up off of the floor, using the TARDIS for support. He looked down at the arrow, which was still protruding from his chest. "Oh, um…ouch." He gripped the shaft and with one quick movement, yanked the arrow out with a horrible sounding squelch. It sprayed blood onto the floor and Jack again sank to his knees. "Not again!" he groaned, and collapsed forwards, hitting the floor with a low thud. The Tauronian had backed up several paces now, and was staring at Jack's unmoving body with a look of terror engraved o his face.

"What…what is he?"

"Human" The Doctor stood next to Jack, ready to help him up when he revived. "Just a little less…what's the word? Mortal."

Another loud gasp came from Jack and he sat up "Couldn't have put it better myself" Jack took The Doctor's hand. Standing up, He inspected his coat and looked up at The Tauronian. "You made a hole in my coat! I love this coat!"

"Stop playing with me! What are you?"

"The Doctor is right. I'm human, just an immortal one. Something happened a few years back. It changed me. Now I'm like this."

The Tauronian seemed to droop. He realised he couldn't be beaten. Earth was lost to the humans. "I…" He looked at The Doctor. "I'm sorry. I'm desperate, we're desperate."

The Doctor suddenly took pity on him. "Please, tell me your name. You know mine after all."

"You couldn't possibly pronounce it in your tounge"

"Try me"

"Okay. Its Clemaneaous" He looked at his huge feet almost nervously and then back up at The Doctor.

"Can I call you Clem for short?" Jack broke the uncomfortable silence. The Doctor elbowed him in the side. "Ouch! Your elows aren't half sharp!"

Clem smiled. "Humans, they're so funny sometimes. I can see why you like them, Doctor." He tuned to Jack. "Yes, call me Clem. I suppose it's easier to say in your tongue." He sighed.

"Where are the rest of you?" Jack ran a hand through his hair.

"They're all in emergency hibernation. They can stay like that for up to three or four lightyears if they have to." He paused. "I'm only here to keep the ship alive, to keep her working, searching for a new home."

The Doctor looked into Clem's eyes and saw the fear burning behind the bravado he had put on to mask it. He saw that he was speaking the truth. "But you can't take Earth. You just can't"

"We have no other choice!" Clem's shout echoed in the vast space, reverberating off the white walls.

"Keep searching" The Doctor stepped closer to Clem. "Not far from here there is another Earth like planet, inhabited by nothing but bacteria. The Humans know of it but it will be at least 3,500 years before they find a way to get to it."

Clem looked at The Doctor and was quiet for a few minutes. "You're not bluffing?"

"No, I'm telling the truth. I swear"

Clem smiled. "Doctor, I don't know how to thank you."

"I do, remove GUILT, reverse the damage."

"That will be hard, destroying a milenia of work!"

"Clem, please. They can't die like that, where's that strong and noble race I once knew?"

Clem said nothing, turned and slowly walked to the door and Jack and The Doctor followed. The rest of the group were apprehensive but also followed suit.

The rest of the ship was spotlessly clean, with long narrow corridors, lit by gentle subtle coloured lights in shades of orange, blue and purple. Doors lead off on each side, with strange squiggles and dots etched into them in carbon black. Every so often there was a window in the side walls, which gave an impressive view of Earth.

After several quiet, tense minutes of walking, Clem stopped and placed a palm on the scanner on the wall, and the door slid open silently. The group shuffled into an immense lab, complete with sinks and chemical glasswares, bunsen burners and an array of instruments the team had never seen before. Tosh was desperate to explore, but knew she had to keep with the others, and that half the things in this lab were dangerous enough to kill. She stood and took it all in with wide eyes.

"This" Clem waved his hand towards a large container, covered with biohazard symbols. "This is where the spores are developed" He pointed to another container, which was larger and deeper, "this is where adult parasites are developed further, researched on and bred." He moved across to a strange looking machine. It was tall, and had a round barrel at one end, and what looked like a lense at the other. "This is where we put completed infection shells and place them in atmospheres."

"The apocalype machine" The Doctor said it with a low, tense voice whch made Jack shudder. "I've seen that before."

"Yes, we found it half destroyed on a planetoid a good three or four millenia ago. We rebuilt it and got it working again, obviosuly modified for its new purpose."

"Not the right one" The Doctor stepped up and looked into the second container and sighed. He turned aod faced Clem. "Why did you infect me?"

"Experiment. To see if it would kill you. I see it provoked a regeneration. Not as handsome, but not bad."

"Get rid of it, now." The Doctor's voice had gone lower and angrier, and it took everyone by surprise.

"You will have to leave the lab. This will most likely kill me, but it will destroy GUILT. First, I will remove it from Earth, as you asked." Without waiting another moment, Clem opened the 'apocalypse machine' and removed three spore balls, which he very carefully placed in the spore development tank. Then he placed two green balls into the barrel, flicked a few switches, pulled a lever and the machine rumbled to life. Clem switched on a monitor, which was showing a stats graph of the air on Earth. Slowly, the red, showing GUILT levels began to decrease. Clem turned and stood to face the group. "It is done. Now leave the lab. This, this is likely to kill me. Once this happens you must leave the ship immediately, the rest of us will come out of hibernation and things will get a little…well…messy."

"Thankyou, Clem. For doing this." The Doctor took his hand, "You don't have to die for us"

"It's the only way" Clem smiled nervously. "You of all people should know that everybody lives, and everybody dies."

"Not like this" The Doctor suddenly felt a wave of emotions, sadness at the loss of a life, but elation at the fact Earth and the rest of the universe was going to be saved from GUILT by it.

"This is the most honourable thing. Now go, GO!"

The group left the lab, Tosh looking back in awe at the vast room, and The Doctor at the huge figure of Clem standing by the tanks, getting together bottles of chemicals and instruments. He tirned away once he got to he door and leapt through the opening just as Clem opened the tanks, and let a cloud of spores out. The door closed behind them with a soft click. From inside the lab, there came a hige crash, and the whoomph of igniting flame. The door slid open once more, and Clem stumbled out. He fell to his knees as the door slammed shut. "Get out" He choked. "Go, leave! It is done. Earth is safe" His breathing was ragged and broken. "Hurry!" He spluttered and choked, and his breaths became more strained.

"I won't leave you to die alone" The Doctor slid his hand into Clems. "Nobody deserves that. You did an honourable thing."

"I…I did horrible things to…you….i'm sorry….I…"

"Shhhh, it's alright, it's alright. Hush now, I'm with you." The Doctor looked into Clem's dying eyes, and saw fear. "I forgive you"

"Doctor, I….Thank you." Clem smiled. "I never told you….how much I….admired you."

"Shhh" The Doctor's eyes were filling with tears. "It's alright, just…rest now"

"I never knew…humans are better than….they say in the books. They are kind….and…noble…" Clem took in one more shuddering breath, and the life left his body, the light in his eyes dulled and he became silent. The Doctor gently slid his hand out from Clem's, and gently closed his open, vacant eyes. Then he stood up and faced the others. "We should heed his words, we're not welcome here anymore."

The ship seemed to agree. The soft pastel tones had changed to a pulsing red, and further down the hallway doors began banging open, and angry shouts in a foreign tounge sounded down towards them. The team loked at eachother and ran back towards the TARDIS at top speed. They got to the doors of the blue ship just as a group of four more tauronians thindered into the room. One of them raised a crossbow-like weapon and fired a bolt. It caught Jack just as he was opening the door and sent him crumpling to the floor. He was dragged in by Gwen and Owen as The Doctor started the TARDIS up, and the ship dematerialised from the room, leaving four very confused Tauronians staring at the place it had just been.

The TARDIS landed with a bump back in the bay, and at the same moment Ianto woke up with a jolt. "AH! What…what happened?"

"Ianto?" Jack scrambled over to him, and took Ianto's hand in his. "Ianto, you're back!"

"No, I'm a ghost come back to haunt you!"

"Oh, Ianto!" Jack took him into a strong hug, struggling to hold back the emotions raving through him.

"Hey, Doctor, look!" Tosh and Gwen stood by the door, looking out at the bay. The Doctor joined them and couldn't help but smile. The bay was glistening with early morning frost, and the air was crisp and fresh. The Doctor looked at the team, and Jack, who was helping Ianto to his feet, and smiled. Earth was going to be okay, everything was going to be okay.

Two weeks had passed, and life at Torchwood was starting to get back to normal. People were beginning to recover from early stages of GUILT, and some further cases were being treated with the soloution they had come up with at the hub. Cleanup operations had started everywhere to make sure all contamination had been removed, and no new cases had been reported. Life was slowly, but surely returning to normality. Jack and The Doctor stood on a frosty bay, watching as the first snow of the season began to fall in slow, swirling movements.

"This is beautiful" The Doctor held out a hand and a white flake landed delicately into his palm, and melted almost immediately. He turned and looked at the TARDIS, which was standing tall and beautiful as the snow gently began to settle on it's ledges and window panes. He turned to Jack. "Jack, these past few weeks, they've shown me how much I've missed you. How much I love you." He hugged Jack and took his hand. "One last trip?"

Jack's heart leapt at the offer. He looked at the TARDIS, and the beautiful timelord, and then at the water tower, and back at the TARDIS. He felt torn, he desperately wanted to go with The Doctor, but couldn't leave the team, not now. He sighed. "Doctor, I'd love to, I really, really would, but that team of mine, they need me. Now more than ever."

"I understand" The Doctor sighed. "Well, I guess this is goodbye." He took Jack into a warm, comforting hug which Jack didn't want to end, and it did all to quickly.

"Hey, you'll visit, right? I'm not having you running off and disapearing again!"

"Hey! I wasn't planning to!" He feigned an innocent face, big puppy eyes and all.

Jack snorted. "You're so cute when you do that face!" HE hugged The Doctor one last time. "Easter? We should do easter."

"Easter it is!" The Doctor reached into the inner pocket of his jacket, and pulled out a small silver key. "You should have this." He gently dropped the key into Jack's palm. "Look after it."

Jack clenched his fist around it, and put it in his pocked. "Thank you."

"I'd better get going, places to go, people to see!" He looked up at the sky and smiled. "The universe to explore!" He looked at Jack and smiled warmly. "I love you, Jack."

"I'll miss you" Jack smliled. "Love you." Jack gave The Doctor one last hug, and The Doctor reached up and pressed his lips against Jacks in a warm, loving kiss that sent a wave of emotions rushing through Jack. All too soon it was over and they looked into eachother's eyes. The Doctor nodded, smiled and walked over to the TARDIS. He stopped by the door.

"Miss you already!"

"Be careful!" Jack waved as The Doctor laughed, waved back and shut the door. Jack stood, back straight and in a proper army salute as the sound of the TARDIS' gears and engines echoed round the bay and the blue box began to dematerialise. Soon, Jack stood alone, staring at the empty spot where the TARDIS had been. He sighed, and as the snow began to fall in thick flakes, made his way back to the hub, back to normality.


End file.
